📚 Author | 🌍 Big Picture Thinker | 🌐 Holistic Approach | 🚀 Lover of Disruptive Trends | 📈 Exploring the Future One Idea at a Time. No financial advice!
About five years ago, I wrote this introduction to #XRP and @Ripple. Since 2017, I have been convinced that the XRPL is a groundbreaking technology—perfect for processing payments. As on the cover the #XRPL is much larger than Ripple. And to this day, I stand 100% behind the predictions I made in my book.
Even back in 2017, anyone who wanted to transfer money quickly and cheaply between crypto exchanges used XRP. Since then, the market has developed at an incredible pace, yet XRP seems to have lost momentum, especially due to the @SECGov lawsuit. The real challenge, both then and now, is achieving genuine utility for the masses.
Ripple has its specific use case, but it's not designed for mass adoption. The XRP Ledger, however, is open source, and anyone can use it to develop real-world use cases. If only there were more visionaries like @WietseWind, we might have a much broader ecosystem today. But it’s amazing to see that recently, even through meme coins, XRP has been gaining renewed attention (I am not a fan...). Moments like these remind us that any spark can reignite interest and bring new energy to the ecosystem. 🚀
But one thing has remained unwavering: the XRP community’s belief in XRP. That kind of conviction will be rewarded someday. I just hope not too many newcomers get disillusioned by the unrealistic XRP price predictions spread by "moon boys." The real long-term value lies in utility.
Long live the #XRPCommunity ! 🚀✨
#XRP #XRPCommunity #XRPHolders #XRPFamily #XRPArmy #UtilityIsKey
https://t.co/1qFrKwP7iL
If Firelight is successful it will shift the entire landscape of DeFi.
Institutions representing Trillions of dollars of AUM that are currently shut out of DeFi will be able to engage for the first time.
If this can be achieved Firelight will be the biggest thing to happen in both DeFi and for XRP in a long long time.
Ripple Swell: We’re collaborating with @Mastercard, WebBank, and @Gemini to introduce $RLUSD settlement on the XRP Ledger for fiat credit card payments, starting with the Gemini XRP Credit Card: https://t.co/lMQ5qnthLT
This initiative sets a new benchmark for institutional efficiency, enabling faster, compliant, and more transparent settlement within traditional finance.
The future of payments is here.
🚨BREAKING: "JoelKatz" and Ripple’s Asheesh Birla Unveil Evernorth — “XRP’s MicroStrategy Moment Has Arrived.” 💥📈
In a panel packed with @arrington, @bgarlinghouse, and @JoelKatz, @Ripple’s Asheesh Birla (@ashgoblue) revealed how Evernorth is about to change the way institutions invest in $XRP — forever.
💬 “Institutions need a simple way to tap into $XRP — and we just built it.”
Asheesh explained that @evernorthxrp isn’t another crypto experiment — it’s a full-fledged on-ramp for traditional investors:
“You don’t need to understand wallets or DeFi to participate. Just buy Evernorth’s stock, and you’re instantly exposed to XRP yield and ecosystem growth.”
In other words, Evernorth ($XRPN) lets you own $XRP’s upside — without touching an exchange or private keys.
🌎 Evernorth Goes Global — Fast
Ripple confirmed expansion plans in Japan and South Korea, where $XRP ranks as the #2 most traded asset. Partnering with SBI Group, Evernorth will bring compliant, XRP-backed yield products straight into Asia’s biggest crypto markets. 🇯🇵🇰🇷
🏦 XRP’s First Institutional Treasury Vehicle
While other chains like Ethereum and Solana have dozens of “Digital Asset Treasuries,” $XRP finally gets its own — backed by a regulated, publicly traded company.
“We don’t want dozens of risky projects — we want one trusted, scalable, and well-run ecosystem play,” @ashgoblue said.
It’s a blueprint for quality over quantity — the opposite of the scattershot DeFi model. 🚀
Congratulations to our friends over at @Ripple on their latest strategic investment from some behemoth institutions, including Citadel. We’ve been here at Swell in NYC and keep getting asked how this type of announcement impacts XRP. Simple answer - More adoption of the XRP Ledger may create new use cases for XRP.
2025, without a doubt, has been an incredible year for @Ripple, and a record year for crypto as a whole. Although we have a couple of months left, this announcement feels like the cherry on top of a mountain of good news:
Today we announced a $500M investment in Ripple, from Fortress Investment Group, @citsecurities, @PanteraCapital, @galaxyhq, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace at a $40B valuation.
This investment isn’t just validation of Ripple’s growth strategy and business built on the foundation of XRP, but also a clear bet on what the future of crypto will look like. I’m very proud of what we’ve built, and all that’s to come.
That seamless smart contract layer for XRPL I described is Flare via FXRP.
All fees including FLR tx fees occur in XRP (a portion of which pays the FLR tx cost). Vs using Flare directly it’s a tiny bit more expensive as the XRP tx also has to be paid for.
The key point really is that to the XRPL user this just feels like you are using XRPL to interact with full smart contracts. Vs the existing experience of bridging, changing wallets, acquiring a different token etc.
Our firm conviction is that this is good for XRP as it means people can build really easy to use products that involve XRP.
Docs on Smart Accounts will be released when smart accounts launch. (Probably Dec)
Ripple Prime breaks ground in the US today with the launch of digital asset spot prime brokerage capabilities – allowing clients to execute OTC spot transactions across the most prominent digital assets and stablecoins, including $XRP and $RLUSD. https://t.co/zTYb4MrPX4
With today’s close of Hidden Road (now Ripple Prime), Ripple has announced 5 major acquisitions in ~2 years (GTreasury last week, Rail in August, Standard Custody in 2024, Metaco in 2023). As we continue to build solutions towards enabling an Internet of Value – I’m reminding you all that XRP sits at the center of everything Ripple does. Lock in.
Congrats @ashgoblue and the @evernorthxrp team on today’s launch! Evernorth fills the missing link today in XRP capital markets, and XRP usage in DeFi products. I’m proud to invest 50M XRP in the firm (you may see some wallet movement on this).
For the second time in as many weeks the NY Times ran a “guest essay” painting crypto as no more than a tool of crime and corruption. It’s a convenient narrative, but a lazy and inaccurate one.
Crypto is a technology used by more than 55 million Americans, and over three-quarters say it’s improved their lives; helping them send money, prove ownership, and build new forms of commerce on transparent, traceable ledgers. Corruption and crime don’t thrive in plain sight.
The real story is about the everyday Americans using digital assets to save time, cut costs, and gain financial freedom. That story deserves to be told. That’s what we are doing @NatCryptoAssoc.
Today, Ripple is breaking into the $120T corporate treasury payments market with the $1B acquisition of GTreasury.
The past few years have reminded this industry why payments, first and foremost, is THE primary use case for crypto and blockchain. Payments are where Ripple first started for exactly these reasons – the infrastructure is complex, siloed and inefficient, but as we know, perfectly positioned to benefit from decentralized financial technologies.
Astounding amounts of cash are trapped in outdated payments systems, creating friction, unnecessary costs, and barriers to entering new markets. GTreasury has been serving some of the most well known brands for decades – and now together with Ripple, we’ll be able to help CFOs manage all their assets, include stablecoins, tokenized deposits, etc at scale around the world, as well as put their idle capital to work with repo markets via Hidden Road.
The opportunity is here, and we’re diving right in. It’s happening!
https://t.co/GCXS6QqNqt
The EU led in creating comprehensive rules for digital assets - and nations like Luxembourg are leaning in. Thanks to Luxembourg Finance Minister @RothGilles and his team for a great meeting last week. @Ripple is excited about our future in Luxembourg and the EU.
As happens in one’s life, I’ve been taking stock of my last 40 years. It’s been a wild ride. I’ve gone from consulting for the NSA to watching the early stages of Bitcoin. Then, I met Arthur, Jed, and Chris and worked on coding the XRP Ledger. Now, I’ve spent more than 13 years at Ripple.
I can’t begin to explain the depth of my gratitude to this company, the people who work here, and the community that surrounds XRPL. It’s been one of the greatest honors and experiences of my life, second only to my amazing family.
The time has come for me to step back from my day-to-day duties as Ripple CTO at the end of this year. I’m really looking forward to spending more time with the kids and grandkids and going back to the hobbies I set aside. But be warned, I’m not going away from the XRP community. You haven’t seen the last of me (now, or ever).
The last few months I’ve been tinkering on the side – spinning up my own XRPL node and publishing its output data, researching other use cases for XRP (besides what Ripple is focused on), and more. I truly enjoy this part — getting my hands dirty, talking to builders, coding for the pure love of it — and I’m really excited to get back to that. More to come on this very soon, I’m sure.
But back to gratitude — to Brad and Monica — leaders who have been here nearly as long as I have, and are the very soul of Ripple itself. To Chris, who took a huge leap of faith and never wavered. To Arthur, who had the big ideas every time we needed them. To the RippleX team, ledger developers, community members, builders, and everyone else — it’s been an honor being in the trenches with you all. Thank you for everything you have done for the XRPL. I have total confidence in the next generation of leaders and builders – including Dennis Jarosch (Ripple’s SVP of Engineering) – and far too many others to name in the XRP community who will carry the torch.
I’ll still be in and out of the Ripple office as CTO Emeritus, and as my last task at Ripple, Chris asked me to join Ripple's Board of Directors to continue supporting the company’s mission and long-term vision...and I accept!
I look forward to seeing the rest of you at XRP community events around the world.
– JoelKatz
Mostapha Tahiri
“We expect a shift from correspondent banking to multi-
rail orchestration, blending SWIFT, crypto rails (e.g. Ripple, Stellar), and
domestic RTGS. Business models will increasingly emphasise platform-based
connectivity, data monetisation, and compliance-as-a-service,”
Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin now integrates with BlackRock & VanEck’s tokenized funds, enabling direct redemption into on-chain liquidity. A Securitize smart contract allows 24/7 share-to-RLUSD swaps, with RLUSD backed 1:1 by liquid reserves under NY DFS trust charter. 🏁 🌊
HUGE🚨XLS-70d PASSED Consensus
Company @Ripple invested in @idOS_network in July '24. They've been patiently waiting for "Credentials" (XLS-70d) on the $XRP Ledger.
WHY?🚀🛠️Build compliant auto on-chain authorization. DeFi Baby! Self-custody your data, NO central honeypots🎉
https://t.co/5JgEKj1SI4