Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has made one of his boldest public predictions yet, telling an audience at FII Priority that the CLARITY Act will pass by the end of May 2026, and that the stablecoin payment revolution is no longer a question of if but when.
“People Are Exhausted. That Is When They Finally Compromise”
Garlinghouse was candid about the state of crypto legislation in Washington. Speaking about the CLARITY Act, which is designed to define what counts as a security and what counts as a commodity in the digital asset world, he acknowledged the bill has moved slower than expected, largely because banks have reopened debates around how stablecoin yields and rewards should work.
But he is not pessimistic. Two days before the interview, he was in Washington meeting with key figures involved in the legislative process, and what he heard gave him confidence.
“The person I trust on how the sausage is made said when people are their most exhausted and most annoyed, that is when they finally compromise,” Garlinghouse said with a laugh. “I think we are there. I will predict by the end of May we will get something across.”
A Night and Day Difference From the Biden Era
Garlinghouse pointed to a landmark moment that has already changed the landscape dramatically. Nine days before the interview, the SEC and CFTC jointly confirmed that 16 digital assets are commodities, a move that would have been unthinkable under the previous administration.
“Think about the contrast between that and the Biden war on crypto that drove it offshore in the United States,” he said. “We have already made huge progress in this administration to provide structure and clarity.”
He also credited the GENIUS Act, passed last summer, as a major turning point that unlocked real corporate interest in stablecoins. Fortune 2000 CEOs and CFOs are now actively asking whether their companies should be using stablecoins, a conversation that simply was not happening at scale before.
The Stablecoin Wave Is Coming and It Is Coming Fast
On the broader question of where crypto goes next, Garlinghouse was direct. He referenced predictions made by some of the biggest names in traditional finance, including Stanley Druckenmiller, who said all payments will be done through stablecoins by 2030, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who has predicted all assets will eventually be tokenised.
“I do not think they are too far off,” said fellow panelist Zach, who was seated alongside Garlinghouse. “This is just an improved system to what currently exists.”
Garlinghouse closed with a line that summed up his entire outlook in a single sentence, borrowing from a well-known framework: “People overestimate what happens in five years and underestimate what happens in 10 years.
What This Means for XRP and Ripple
For Ripple specifically, Garlinghouse said that the company does not have a strong vested interest in the stablecoin yield debate that has slowed the CLARITY Act down. Ripple launched its own stablecoin RLUSD and has positioned itself as payments infrastructure rather than a yield product. That gives Ripple a relatively neutral seat at the table while the banks and crypto platforms fight over the rewards question.
With the CLARITY Act potentially weeks away from a Senate vote, and Garlinghouse putting his personal credibility behind an end of May timeline, the next few weeks could define the regulatory future of the entire US crypto industry.
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