Many see stablecoins soaring to $2T in ‘handful’ of years: Ripple CEO

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says there’s a widely-held belief that the stablecoin market could grow almost ten times over the next few years. 

The stablecoin industry is currently around $250 billion in market capitalization, and “many people think it will reach $1 to $2 trillion in a handful of years,” said Garlinghouse on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday.

He added that the growth behind it has been “profound,” saying that Ripple joined the market late partly because the firm was using stablecoins in its payment flows for its institutional customers. 

“We can participate in this [stablecoin] market given our institutional background and regulatory compliance,” he said, confirming that the growth ahead will serve the firm well.

The comments came as Garlinghouse announced that BNY Mellon would be the firm’s stablecoin custodian for its Ripple USD dollar-pegged asset.

Ripple launched its own enterprise-focused stablecoin, RLUSD, in late 2024. Since then, its market capitalization has grown to $500 million, a milestone it reached on Wednesday.  

Huge growth for stablecoins

Apollo Capital’s chief investment officer, Henrik Andersson, agreed with Garlinghouse’s prediction, telling Cointelegraph on Thursday, “The $1-2 trillion market cap for stablecoins is in line with our prediction.” 

“We are seeing fintechs, banks, social networks, and large retailers all launch their own stablecoins.” 

Andersson cited Tether’s profitability as an example of how lucrative the business can be. 

“The next catalyst for stablecoin adoption will be the GENIUS Act in the US, which will make stablecoins legal tender,” he added.

The stablecoin legislation passed a Senate vote in June and is likely to be made into law this month. 

“The crypto-friendly SEC, along with the GENIUS Act, can align the crypto industry to rapidly expand, with the potential for the stablecoin market to reach $1-2 trillion in market cap in a few years,” Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, told Cointelegraph. 

Ripple banking license 

Ripple, which primarily serves institutional clients, is aiming to become fully compliant in the US so that it can operate under the same framework as banks and financial institutions. 

Earlier this month, Ripple applied for a banking license with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

The firm has also applied for a Federal Reserve Master Account, said Garlinghouse, adding, “We think that the key thing for crypto and decentralized finance […] is building bridges between traditional finance and DeFi.” 

XRP hits seven-week high

This week, Ripple also announced that its stablecoin has received a significant boost by integrating with Transak, a major cryptocurrency payments platform.

The firm’s cross-border payments token XRP (XRP) has rallied 7% since Monday and was trading at $2.42 at the time of writing, its highest price for seven weeks. 

Magazine: Inside a 30,000 phone bot farm stealing crypto airdrops from real users