Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says stablecoins have reached their “ChatGPT moment”, where corporate America suddenly gets it.
Speaking yesterday on Mornings with Maria, he described boards, CEOs, and CFOs at Fortune 500 and Fortune 2000 companies now asking the same question: “What are we doing with stablecoins? Could we be using them?”
The surge in interest is no longer theoretical. Ripple’s Hidden Road, the prime-brokerage firm the company acquired last year, processed $13 trillion in payments in 2025. Not a single dollar moved through stablecoins or any crypto rail. “That’s the opportunity,” Garlinghouse said, signaling banks are preparing to go all-in.
The remark comes as Ripple doubles down on infrastructure to capture that shift. In its third major deal this year, the company paid $1 billion for GTreasury, a treasury management platform that helps finance teams track cash flows, manage risk, and unlock idle capital.
The acquisition follows the $1.25 billion purchase of Hidden Road in April and the $200 million deal for the Rail stablecoin platform in August, making Ripple useful for corporations to integrate digital assets at scale. Garlinghouse has repeatedly tied the moves to pro-crypto policies and this summer’s GENIUS Act stablecoin legislation.
 
Garlinghouse is blunt about what will separate winners from losers. Having dozens of stablecoins that all do the same thing is pointless, he argues. Success demands trust, regulation, and transparency. As the market matures, the weak entrants without strict rules will fade, while the best-regulated players become the rails that normalize digital payments.
Meanwhile, Stablecoins are moving beyond crypto settlement into mainstream payments infrastructure, especially in B2B flows, corporate treasuries, and global payouts. Regulated, onshore stablecoins embedded in institutional workflows contrast with faster, offshore versions serving cross-border needs.
That said, DeFi lending is moving toward structured, balance-sheet-like credit, with stablecoins handling settlement and yields. Finally, regulation is shifting from initial licensing to ongoing oversight of reserves, disclosures, and conduct.
