Brad Garlinghouse, the billionaire CEO of the Ripple payments firm, has hailed the recent launches of XRP-linked funds on Wall Street.

On May 23, Garlinghouse appeared in an episode of Ripple’s “Crypto In One Minute,” in which he discussed in detail the two main factors behind the popularity of crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

One: for the longest time, institutional investors — primarily those trading on Wall Street — haven't been able to access crypto directly, said Garlinghouse. The only options limited to such traders were either self-custody or centralized exchanges, which they don't prefer for several reasons.

The launch of crypto ETFs gave investors an opportunity for the "first time" to directly trade crypto on Wall Street, Garlinghouse continued. Capital that was earlier untapped — an endowment, a pension fund, or a mutual fund — can now access crypto through traditional channels, he added.

Two: crypto ETF launches are institutionalizing the entire crypto industry, the billionaire CEO highlighted and appreciated the market reception to spot Bitcoin ETFs, which he said will soon close in on gold ETFs.

Of late, a number of funds linked to XRP have been launched too.

On Apr. 8, Vermont-based Teucrium Investment Advisors launched a 2x XRP futures ETF, giving twice-leveraged exposure to XRP.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the leading American derivatives marketplace, launched XRP futures on May 19.

Next, Volatility Shares launched the first XRP futures ETF, along with a twice-leveraged XRP futures ETF, on May 22.

Meanwhile, nine applications relating to spot XRP ETFs are waiting for approval from the securities regulator.

With a market cap of $134 billion, XRP is the fourth-largest cryptocurrency. As per Kraken, it was trading at $2.29 at press time, down 4% over a month.

Ripple CEO hails major Wall Street shift as XRP ETFs go mainstream first appeared on TheStreet on May 25, 2025

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