Is Ripple abandoning XRP?

The full answer

The question comes from a real change: Ripple’s payments business now offers stablecoins, including RLUSD, alongside XRP. That is different from dropping XRP, and the two need separate evidence. Ripple’s own description of itself still names both: “a technology company whose solutions use XRP, RLUSD, and other digital assets.”[1]

What has changed inside Ripple’s products?

Ripple’s developer documentation for On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) says “ODL uses the digital asset XRP as a bridge currency, sourcing liquidity on-demand.”[2] That page is undated. The current Ripple Payments product page offers something wider: customers can “pay in, pay out, and settle in RLUSD, USDC, USDT, or fiat.”[3] An April 24, 2026 Ripple post says the platform “supports multiple stablecoins — including USDC, USDT, and RLUSD” and settles “across multiple stablecoins and fiat rails.”[4] Ripple names XRP as the bridge currency in its ODL documentation, which says ODL uses XRP as a bridge currency, sourcing liquidity on-demand.[2] How ODL itself works is on how ODL uses XRP. None of the sources checked reports what share of Ripple Payments volume uses XRP; that question is on what share of Ripple Payments volume uses XRP.

Ripple’s chief executive has said as much. crypto.news reported on September 25, 2026 that in a Faena Rose interview that took place on January 22, 2026, Brad Garlinghouse said “XRP is the best bridge asset” could be the answer for one transaction and that “a stablecoin is going to solve that problem better” in some cases. The same report says he rejected the label of an XRP maximalist.[5]

What ties Ripple to XRP today?

Escrow. XRPL.org says “Ripple has locked 55 billion XRP (55% of the total possible supply) into a series of escrows using the XRP Ledger itself.”[6] crypto.news reported that about 31.28 billion XRP remained in escrow after the September 2026 release, citing “an independent tracker that queries validated XRP Ledger data,” and said that release was part of “Ripple’s programmed monthly XRP escrow schedule.”[7] How the escrow works, and how much Ripple still holds, is on how the XRP escrow works.

Evernorth. Evernorth, a company set up to hold XRP, said on October 20, 2025 that “net proceeds will primarily fund open-market purchases of XRP” and named Ripple as “a strategic investor.” The amount Ripple put in was not disclosed.[8] On August 27, 2026 Evernorth listed Ripple among its investors and said shareholders would vote on September 30, 2026. It also said the combined company is expected to list on Nasdaq.[9] More is on what Evernorth is.

Products. Since November 3, 2025 Ripple Prime’s U.S.-based institutional clients can execute OTC spot transactions across “dozens of the most prominent digital assets including XRP and RLUSD.”[10] Ripple Treasury’s January 2026 launch post advertises reporting “across traditional cash, digital assets, RLUSD, and XRP holdings.”[11]

What is the strongest case that Ripple is moving away from XRP?

24/7 Wall St. made it on August 13, 2026: “most of Ripple’s institutional deals now settle in its RLUSD stablecoin, and the coin is only used to pay the network fee of 0.00001 XRP per transaction.” The same article granted that “XRP still has a job in the routes stablecoins cannot reach.”[12] The first part matches the direction of Ripple’s own payments pages. The claim that XRP is “only” a fee token conflicts with Ripple’s ODL documentation.[2]

Less public reporting adds to the doubt. Ripple’s Q1 2025 markets report said it would “sunset the report in its current form starting in Q2 2025.”[13] Ripple had published that report since 2017 “to provide transparency into its XRP holdings.”[13] No public replacement report existed as of September 29, 2026. Whether RLUSD will take XRP’s place inside Ripple is argued on whether stablecoins will replace XRP.

What evidence would actually show Ripple dropping XRP?

None of the following was found as of September 29, 2026. Each would be a concrete sign:

• Ripple retiring ODL, or removing XRP from its ODL documentation.[2]
• Ripple describing its solutions without XRP on its own XRP page.[1]
• Ripple selling or otherwise disposing of its Evernorth stake.[9]
• Ripple Prime ending XRP trading for clients.[10]

Whether XRP’s competition with stablecoins inside Ripple’s products matters for the XRP price is a separate question, taken up on whether Ripple’s success lifts XRP.