Brad Garlinghouse: The Next 16 Years Will Turn Crypto from Speculation into Real Utility

At the prestigious Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, some of the biggest names in crypto gathered to discuss where the industry is headed. The panel, hosted by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, featured Jeremy Allaire (Circle), economist Saifedean Ammous, billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Garlinghouse took a confident stance about what lies ahead, declaring that the next sixteen years will be transformational for the crypto industry. While the past decade and a half were dominated by speculation and experimentation, the next phase, he said, will be defined by real-world growth and everyday utility.

“Crypto Is Still in Its Early Stages” Garlinghouse emphasized that even sixteen years after Bitcoin’s creation, the industry remains in its infancy.

He pointed out that there is no single dominant framework or approach yet — each country, company, and ecosystem is still finding its own path. “Crypto hasn’t settled into a single structure — and that’s its strength,” said Garlinghouse.

“The next sixteen years will be about building real infrastructure and utility, not just speculation.” He also praised companies like Circle for demonstrating practical use cases for stablecoins, particularly in payments and cross-border transactions.

According to him, this shift from theory to real adoption will separate true innovators from opportunists.

“The Next 16 Years Will Be Better Than the Last” Garlinghouse expressed strong optimism about the second phase of the crypto revolution.

“I believe the next sixteen years will be better than the last sixteen,” he said.

“We’ll finally start seeing applications that bring genuine value — not just store-of-value narratives or speculation, but real, everyday use in finance, technology, and business.” He compared the current phase of crypto to the early days of the internet in the 1990s, when innovation transitioned from concept to mass adoption. According to Garlinghouse, crypto is on the verge of a similar leap — from promise to practical global infrastructure.

Bitcoin: The Digital Gold of a New Era Economist Saifedean Ammous, author of The Bitcoin Standard, described Bitcoin as digital gold — but better suited for today’s fast-moving global economy.

While physical gold is difficult to transport and politically sensitive, Bitcoin allows for instant cross-border transfers without banks or intermediaries. “Most businesses operate across borders and need their capital to move quickly,” Ammous explained.

“Gold simply can’t keep up — it’s too centralized and politically constrained. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is fast, resilient, and practical.” He added that this efficiency is why Bitcoin has outperformed gold so dramatically over the past sixteen years, and he expects this trend to continue as global adoption deepens.

From Speculation to Real-World Utility The key takeaway from the Riyadh discussion was clear: the next era of crypto will be about utility, not hype.

The first wave transformed how people think about money and decentralization — now comes the phase where blockchain proves it can improve real-world systems, from finance and commerce to energy and governance. Both Garlinghouse and Ammous agreed: if the industry focuses on practical applications instead of quick profits, the next sixteen years could become the most productive and transformative period in crypto’s history.

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