Ripple's Brad Garlinghouse: 'Now Is the Time to Be Greedy' on Bitcoin

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse made headlines after appearing on CNBC's 'Squawk on the Street,' where he shared his candid views on Bitcoin's current state, its long-term role in the financial ecosystem, and what he sees as misguided strategies by some market participants.

Garlinghouse opened by acknowledging the broader volatility inherent to digital assets. 'Crypto is going to go through its cycles. Many asset classes do that,' he noted, framing the current downturn as part of a predictable market pattern rather than a structural failure.

One of the sharpest moments in the interview came when Garlinghouse addressed Michael Saylor's well-known approach of leveraging financial instruments to accumulate Bitcoin. While he acknowledged that Strategy's model generated excitement during the bull run, he argued it has now become a liability. 'I think team Michael Saylor wasn't focused on the right stuff, and that has hurt the overall market,' Garlinghouse stated. His remarks came shortly after the preferred stock at the core of Strategy's financial model dropped to a record low. According to the Ripple CEO, financial engineering simply does not create lasting value — and the market is now reflecting that reality.

Despite his criticism of certain Bitcoin-related strategies, Garlinghouse was unambiguous about his personal stance on BTC. Echoing Warren Buffett's famous investing maxim — 'Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful' — he declared, 'Now is the time, I think, to be greedy.' He described himself as firmly bullish on Bitcoin.

When asked to define Bitcoin's utility in today's market, Garlinghouse pointed to its increasingly accepted role as 'digital gold.' To illustrate his point, he referenced a well-known story about Germany's central bank physically relocating 300 tons of gold — a process that consumed two years and cost billions of dollars. By contrast, he argued, moving an equivalent value in Bitcoin — roughly $300 billion — could be accomplished swiftly and at a fraction of the cost and complexity. This portability and efficiency, he suggested, is what gives Bitcoin its unique and enduring appeal.

Turning to Ripple's own trajectory, Garlinghouse highlighted XRP as the company's primary focus, emphasizing its role in cross-border payments and institutional finance. 'The utility there is really focused on payments and leveraging the speed and efficiency of that blockchain in a way for institutions,' he explained.

Garlinghouse also shared a striking data point about Ripple's operational scale. Last year, the company — partly through acquisitions — processed $16 trillion in payments through its prime brokerage business. Notably, nearly none of that volume was settled using a digital asset. He sees this gap as a massive opportunity: to bridge traditional finance with blockchain-based infrastructure and gradually introduce digital assets into mainstream payment flows.

For Garlinghouse, the central question for any digital asset remains the same: does it solve a real problem at scale? 'If it's solving a problem at scale for real customers, you're going to see liquidity, you're going to see demand, you're going to see trust in that asset. Those things compound in a positive way,' he said, reinforcing his conviction that utility — not speculation or financial engineering — is what ultimately sustains value in the crypto space.