An interesting thing I’ve been observing: Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, has been sending a very clear and consistent message throughout 2026, and honestly, his confidence stands out given everything that’s happening in the market.

He started the year in Davos, presenting XRP not as another speculative asset, but as serious financial infrastructure for an increasingly fragmented world. What caught my attention was how he mentioned that transaction volume in stablecoins grew from 19 trillion in 2024 to 33 trillion in 2025—about a 75% year-over-year increase. That’s not a small number. Then he pointed out something that makes a lot of sense: institutional interest from firms like BlackRock and Vanguard still isn’t fully reflected in cryptocurrency prices. At that time, XRP was pulling back toward 1.85, but he didn’t even blink.

In February, during an appearance on Fox Business, Garlinghouse was quite specific. He estimated an 80 to 90% probability that the Ley CLARITY would pass through Congress before April. He described XRP as one of the best-positioned leading cryptocurrencies and talked about the regulatory certainty the industry needs. He also mentioned Ripple’s plan to slow down acquisitions and focus on integrating companies valued at 4 billion that it bought during 2025.

What really impressed me was March. He traveled across three continents in five days, visiting four global offices, and then announced that Ripple Prime had tripled its revenue run rate. His message about XRP never changed: making it more useful, more reliable, with greater utility. That’s his north star.

Now, here’s the interesting part about April. At the Semafor World Economy Summit, Garlinghouse directly addressed the dispute over stablecoin performance that has been holding back Ley CLARITY. His analysis was pretty straightforward: “When people are at their peak point of frustration, that’s when they finally make concessions and progress is made. I think we’re already there.” He pushed Ley CLARITY’s timeline back to the end of May—his third review of the year—but the direction remains the same.

Now XRP is at 1.42, well below its January highs, and the broader market has been volatile. But what stands out to me is that Garlinghouse keeps holding on to that calm confidence. It’s not defensive, and it’s not cautious. It’s as if he believes that when Ley CLARITY finally passes, it will allow banks around the world to participate fully in crypto in a way that goes far beyond what Ripple alone could achieve. That’s a potential game-changer for the entire sector, not just Ripple. It’s worth keeping an eye on how this plays out over the coming months.