“Is XRP Just Funding Ripple?” Community Frustration Puts Garlinghouse Under Pressure
Frustration among XRP holders is once again spilling into public discussions, with investors demanding clearer answers from Ripple’s leadership about how the company’s growing business will translate into benefits for the token. The latest exchange involved XRP commentator My2Cents, who called on CEO Brad Garlinghouse and David Schwartz to address what he described as years of disappointment for the community.
In a post published on November 8, My2Cents argued that XRP holders had remained loyal through years of controversy, regulatory uncertainty and repeated promises, yet had received little in return. He questioned whether the community could ever expect to be rewarded for its support, particularly when other cryptocurrencies appeared to have delivered stronger outcomes for their holders.
Schwartz, Ripple’s former chief technology officer who now holds the title CTO emeritus, responded directly. He challenged the suggestion that Ripple’s leadership had failed to explain its intentions, writing: “I’m not sure what you think we haven’t already told you. We talk about our plans constantly. There’s no secret plan we aren’t telling you about.”
The exchange did not end there. My2Cents acknowledged Schwartz’s response but said investors increasingly felt they had been misled. He then raised a more fundamental question: whether XRP was simply a funding token used to advance Ripple’s corporate ambitions without delivering corresponding value to people holding the cryptocurrency.
That question touches on a longstanding tension within the XRP ecosystem. Ripple is a private company building payment infrastructure, custody services, stablecoin products and institutional financial technology. XRP, meanwhile, is the native asset of the independent XRP Ledger. Although the two are closely connected, their economic interests are not automatically identical.
Ripple’s Expansion Raises Questions About XRP’s Role
The debate has become more visible as Ripple expands beyond its original cross-border payments business. Its growing focus on RLUSD, institutional custody, treasury management and other financial services has created new commercial opportunities for the company. However, not every product or transaction necessarily requires XRP, leaving holders questioning how much of that growth creates direct demand for the token.
Garlinghouse has previously addressed these concerns. At Ripple Swell 2026, he described XRP as the company’s “North Star,” arguing that Ripple wants to pursue initiatives that benefit the asset. However, he also acknowledged that XRP will not be the most suitable settlement instrument for every transaction, with fiat currencies or RLUSD sometimes offering a better fit.
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That distinction is important because Ripple’s commercial success and XRP’s market performance are separate outcomes. A company can increase its valuation, acquire businesses and secure institutional partnerships without those developments automatically creating additional demand for its associated digital asset. The relationship depends on whether products actually use XRP and how that usage affects market demand.
The community’s frustration is also unfolding during a difficult period for the token. XRP traded below $1.09 on November 9 after losing more than 10% over the previous week, according to FXStreet. The same report noted that US-listed spot XRP ETFs recorded approximately $529,510 in net outflows during the week, ending a two-week period of inflows.
The Missing Link Between Ripple’s Growth and XRP Holders
The central issue is therefore not simply whether Ripple has a plan. It is whether the company can explain, in measurable terms, how that plan creates lasting economic value for XRP. Holders want more than announcements about partnerships, acquisitions and new financial products. They want evidence that expanding institutional adoption translates into meaningful activity and demand for the asset.
There is an important distinction between expecting Ripple to guarantee a higher XRP price and expecting transparency about the token’s role in its business strategy. No company can guarantee market appreciation, but Ripple can explain which products use XRP, how the company expects adoption to develop and what measurable indicators investors should monitor.
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Schwartz’s response addressed the accusation that Ripple was hiding a secret strategy, but the follow-up question about whether XRP primarily funds Ripple’s expansion raises a different issue. In the exchange provided, he had not yet supplied a direct answer to that specific concern.
For Ripple, the challenge is increasingly about managing expectations alongside building its business. Its leadership may believe that a larger financial ecosystem will eventually strengthen XRP’s position, but holders want to understand the mechanism connecting those ambitions to the token. Until that connection becomes clearer, corporate milestones and XRP’s market performance are likely to remain separate subjects of debate.
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