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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently joined CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" to discuss Bitcoin, touching on its rough year, utility, Strategy's Bitcoin buying strategy, and Ripple's progress in the last year.
The Ripple CEO highlighted an ongoing crypto cycle, saying, "As we have seen, crypto is going to go through its cycles. Many asset classes do that."
According to Garlinghouse, Michael Saylor's approach to funding Bitcoin purchases definitely started something. He believes the challenge is that while it added some excitement on the way up, it is now compounding on the way down as well.
The Ripple CEO highlighted the priority being on what drives long-term value: "I actually think what should come first is focusing on what's going to drive long-term value. I think that financial engineering does not drive long-term value."
The Ripple CEO reiterated his longstanding view that the long-term value of any digital asset will be driven by utility. "If it's solving a problem at scale for real customers, you're going to see liquidity, you're going to see demand, you're going to see trust in that asset. Those things compound in a positive way," he stated.
Garlinghouse says he is bullish on Bitcoin, aligning with Warren Buffett's quote: "Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." "Now is the time, I think, to be greedy," he added.
The Ripple CEO criticized Michael Saylor's Bitcoin buying strategy. "I think team Michael Saylor wasn't focused on the right stuff, and that has hurt the overall market." His comments come as the preferred stock at the center of Strategy's model fell to a record low.
Bitcoin is digital gold
When asked about the current utility of Bitcoin, Garlinghouse stated that it has clearly carved out a place as "digital gold." He mentioned a widely recounted anecdote about the Central Bank of Germany transporting 300 tons of gold, which took two years and billions of dollars to move.
This case differs from Bitcoin. "If you wanted to move $300 billion of Bitcoin, you could do that in a pretty reasonable, quick way," Garlinghouse stated.
In this regard, Ripple's CEO highlighted a focus on XRP, the company's north star. He further stated that "the utility there is really focused on payments and leveraging the speed and efficiency of that blockchain in a way for institutions."
Ripple is currently seeing tremendous demand, according to Garlinghouse. Last year, partly through acquisitions, Ripple cleared $16 trillion in payments through its prime brokerage business, and the percentage of that which went through a digital asset was close to 0%. The opportunity is to introduce and bring in traditional finance, the Ripple CEO stated.
U.Today Editorial Team
Dan Burgin
