Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says Wall Street investors are buying and holding XRP at a record rate.
During a live AMA on YouTube, Garlinghouse said the company’s next quarterly report on how much XRP the company sold will reveal the sharp rise in interest.
“One of the things I will tease for a future announcement – we’ll do the Q3 XRP markets report, which we always share, where we’re seeing institutional participation in buying XRP. Q3 will definitely be a record of institutional participation in buying and interest in holding XRP.”
Garlinghouse also talked about transparency in the cryptocurrency space, addressing Ripple’s openness about the fact that it owns 60% of the total supply of XRP, of which about 91% is currently locked in escrow.
“Ripple’s going to continue to focus on – are we solving real problems? We want to make sure that we’re creating as transparent an XRP ecosystem as possible, as one participant in that ecosystem. We’ve been, I think, more proactive and transparent than really any other major player in this space. People say, ‘Well, you own a lot of XRP.’ Well, we don’t know how much Ether or some other major players know. We just happen to be more transparent about that.”
As for institutional investment in the cryptocurrency space at large, Garlinghouse said it looks like bigger players are starting to make their move.
“The announcement from ICE and their planned exchange called Bakkt, with participation from a handful of participants, I think it’s a big deal and I think it’s indicative of where the world is going. I think we’re going to see more players enter, and I think that’s a good sign. That’s indicative of the maturing of the industry. I’ve been fond of saying we’re still at that toddler stage and we’ve got a ways to go. And as we see major participants enter the market, I think it’s a big step forward.”