Garlinghouse hailed as ‘best crypto CEO’ following XRP and RLUSD momentum

Lawyer and XRP enthusiast John Deaton believes Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse is arguably the “best CEO in crypto” for leading the cross-border settlement service and stablecoin issuer into a $40 billion valuation.  

Deaton, who has long defended Ripple and its leadership during the company’s regulatory battles with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, said the firm’s recent valuation vindicates his earlier assessment. 

“Three years ago, I said Garlinghouse was arguably the best CEO in crypto. Some folks disagreed. Ripple’s latest valuation, evidenced by the $500M investment from Citadel & Fortress, is now at $40B. I believe my comment has aged well,” he wrote on X Thursday.

His post also included a link to news of the San Francisco-based blockchain firm’s $500 million funding round led by Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities, as Cryptopolitan reported. Ripple confirmed the valuation on Wednesday, adding that it had also conducted a $1 billion tender offer earlier this year at the same price point.

Lawyer Deaton: Garlinghouse is not done yet

In an X post made in mid-October, the US Marine veteran turned attorney mentioned that the company made several acquisitions, including asset brokerage Hidden Road, in a deal worth $1.25 billion.

Around the same time, Ripple purchased payments firm Rail for $200 million to add virtual account and automated backend systems to its technology stack for fast and scalable stablecoin-based transactions.

Ripple has acquired:

Hidden Road for $1.25B: Prime Brokerage/Clearing/Multi-asset infrastructure;

Rail for $200M: Bolsters Ripple’s stablecoin infrastructure payments – adds virtual account & automated backend and strengthens its competitive position in stablecoin-based… https://t.co/AaD7mVIZmP

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) October 16, 2025

Earlier this year, the RLUSD issuer finalized the $250 million purchase of Metaco, a Swiss digital asset custody and tokenization provider.

Ripple’s market valuation adds to confidence

Ripple has indeed come a long way in the last 12 months, a company that at one point was on the US President Donald Trump’s bad side for supposedly aiding his 2024 presidential election opponent, former VP Kamala Harris. 

According to a report by Forbes in late October, Ripple’s private market shares were trading between $150 and $170, valuing the company between $22 billion and $30 billion before the latest funding. 

The new $40 billion valuation puts it in direct competition with Circle, the issuer of USDC, which went public in June and is valued at approximately $34 billion.

Though XRP does not represent equity ownership in Ripple, the token has surged 331% year-over-year, reaching a market capitalization of nearly $150 billion. Stablecoin RLUSD now has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a 1,825% uptick since it debuted on crypto exchanges.

XRP Ledger may be trailing other altcoin blockchains like Solana and Ethereum in developer activity and decentralized application usage, but investors and analysts say the company’s business fundamentals cover its biggest shortcomings.

“Sometimes people view change as bad. I think that’s actually a sign of health and greatness, especially in emerging technologies,” said Joe Naggar, chief executive and chief investment officer of crypto hedge fund Feynman Point Asset Management, which holds a stake in Ripple.

Naggar coined Ripple as a “poster child” for how crypto firms can thrive in a clearer regulatory environment, and that it is “showing thoughtfulness,” but it wasn’t able to fully actualize because of the regulatory overhang and the US SEC dark cloud. 

“That thoughtfulness makes them different from all the other protocols with large treasuries, those that have foundations that lack real leadership and don’t know who they are serving. If you ask Brad Garlinghouse, the answer is very clear to him: it’s his shareholders.”

Ripple Mastercard partnership to add RLUSD use cases

On Wednesday, Ripple announced a new collaboration with Mastercard, WebBank, and Gemini to expand the use of Ripple USD (RLUSD) on the XRP Ledger. The project is meant to facilitate stablecoin settlement for fiat card transactions, testing how RLUSD can serve as a blockchain-based settlement mechanism between Mastercard and WebBank, the issuer of the Gemini Credit Card. 

In the coming months, Ripple and its partners plan to begin initial onboarding for RLUSD on the XRP Ledger, pending regulatory approval.

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