So, something very interesting has been happening behind the scenes at Ripple that could be truly changing the game for XRP. According to company executives, it's no longer just about cross-border transfers — they are repositioning the asset as a foundation for institutional DeFi. And this is a strategic pivot quite different from what we saw a few years ago. The core point of the story is that Ripple is launching a native lending protocol on the XRPL, and this completely changes how XRP functions. It’s no longer just a payment token. Now they are positioning it as collateral and a source of lending power, opening space for yield-generating activities — something that until recently was exclusive to traditional DeFi platforms. Ross Edwards, from Ripple, was very clear at a recent event: they see XRP as a major source of capital for loans and as collateral for on-chain positions. It’s a dual utility model where the asset benefits both directly and indirectly from increased on-chain activity. This is quite different from what we had before. But there’s a detail Edwards highlighted that I found particularly relevant: stablecoins are really the missing piece. Without them, this entire institutional DeFi structure doesn’t work. A bank with tokenized assets on-chain can’t practically convert value into cash without a dollar stablecoin. That’s why RLUSD, Ripple’s own stablecoin, is central to this strategy. What makes this XRP news particularly interesting is the shift in narrative. Two years ago, Ripple was convincing institutions to tokenize assets. Now, they are negotiating the mechanisms by which these assets generate yield, settle instantly, and operate 24/7. For those who follow XRP news regularly, this is a materially different story. It’s no longer just about making payments work better — it’s about creating tokenized asset markets that run all the time. The convergence between XRP as collateral, RLUSD as a settlement medium, and the native lending protocol suggests Ripple is building something much more ambitious. If they succeed in executing it, it could truly redefine how Wall Street interacts with native crypto infrastructure. It’s worth keeping an eye on this developing XRP news.

Yesterday I was thinking about that 'switch' story of XRP that people keep commenting on. Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple's CEO, was very direct at the conference in Sydney: the community is waiting for a single big moment that suddenly changes everything, but the reality is quite different. What he explained is that Ripple is not waiting for a single dramatic switch. In fact, they are turning on hundreds or even thousands of small switches over time. Each move may seem insignificant in isolation, but when you add everything up, the impact becomes exponential. This makes a lot of sense if you follow what the company has been doing. Since 2023, they have spent 3 billion dollars on acquisitions trying to connect the traditional financial world with DeFi. It’s not a one-day move. It’s years of accumulated work. The phrase 'flip the switch' has been around for a long time, actually. Back in January 2019, Garlinghouse spoke at Fortune that banks were ready to flip the switch and start using XRP through xRapid once testing was complete. The community took this idea and turned it into a belief that there would be a magical moment when XRP’s price would skyrocket out of nowhere. But he was very clear in Sydney: there is no such single moment. What exists is steady progress. Garlinghouse even admitted that some things took longer than expected, but emphasized that they are seeing more and more of these small switches being activated, even if they don’t always draw immediate attention. The interesting part is that he also linked this to the role of the community. According to him, supporters doing their job of spreading correct information, fighting FUD, and maintaining passion for the project—all of this counts as more switches being turned on. For those following XRP and wanting to understand the price, this perspective changes a lot. It’s not about waiting for a single event that will revolutionize everything. It’s about recognizing that every step matters, every partnership, every integration. When you look back in a few years, you might not even identify the decisive moment because, in reality, it was years of steady movement that accumulated. Garlinghouse also expressed optimism for 2026 and beyond, but made it clear that any major impact will be the result of a decade of work, not a single dramatic moment. It makes sense with Ripple’s strategy: focus on real adoption, institutional partnerships, integration into the traditional financial system. All of this takes time, but when it works, it really works.

Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse provided an important clarification at the XRP Australia 2026 conference in Sydney—and it will be relevant for everyone who has been waiting for the “Flip the Switch” moment for a year. Garlinghouse said that Ripple has already started flipping thousands of small switches—but this isn’t a single big, dramatic moment that everyone is waiting for. Instead, progress is happening through hundreds or thousands of partial switches. In other words, each step may seem small on its own, but the real impact shows up when they all work together. The whole “Flip the Switch” story has been going on since 2019. Garlinghouse told Fortune back then that banks and financial institutions would move XRP from pilot programs to real production through xRapid. But over time, the terminology morphed into something else. YouTube creators and people on social media turned it into a kind of catchphrase—as if a single spectacular moment were coming that would change XRP’s price overnight. Garlinghouse directly cleared up this misunderstanding. He said Ripple’s strategy has never depended on a single master trigger. Instead, the company has been working gradually across different areas. From tokenization to stablecoins, small steps are being taken everywhere. Since 2023, Ripple has spent $3 billion on various acquisitions—all of it to connect TradFi and DeFi. Interestingly, Garlinghouse also emphasized the community’s role. He said that in Australia, he has seen supporters’ incredible passion. People are correcting misinformation, standing up against FUD—these are all switches as well. The work the community is doing is also part of this bigger picture. So the real question isn’t when a big switch will flip. The real question is how many small switches have already been flipped and how many more will be flipped. Garlinghouse says that in 2026 and the years after, when everything comes together, people will understand that it wasn’t one moment—it was a year’s worth of hard work.