Ripple CEO confirmed the next stage for XRP’s institutional adoption, and it is privacy. That’s what prominent XRP Ledger contributor, known online as Vet, shared in a recent X post with a photo of him speaking directly to Garlinghouse, Ripple’s chief executive.
Garlinghouse’s answer highlights what many in the XRP Ledger community already see as the final gap in the ecosystem. The network has introduced decentralized identifiers (DID), on-chain credentials and permissioned domains to bring compliance into the picture.
It now supports multipurpose tokens (MPTs) for efficient tokenization, along with a native DEX that combines AMM liquidity with an order book.
What remains, according to both developers and Ripple leadership, is a privacy layer. That includes lending and borrowing functions under proposal XLS-66, where institutions could use tokenized real-world assets as collateral, while zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) keep balances and transfers confidential.
Privacy here is not about secrecy from regulators, but about allowing institutions to protect sensitive data from competitors while still proving compliance on-chain.
Trillions for private XRP
Ripple’s Senior Director of Engineering Ayo Akinyele recently pointed out that trillions in institutional assets are likely to move on-chain in the coming decade, and privacy will be central to making that happen. His team is already working on confidential MPTs, scheduled for launch in Q1, 2026, which would allow private collateral management at scale.
With smart escrows under XLS-100 and smart contracts under XLS-101 tying these functions together, privacy is the bridge Akinyele expects will carry XRP Ledger into its institutional era.