John Squire Presses Ripple on XRP Benefits From DriveWealth Deal

Crypto commentator John Squire challenged Ripple to show how its DriveWealth partnership benefits XRP, focusing attention on whether stablecoin activity on the XRP Ledger creates meaningful use for the network’s native asset.

Squire addressed Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in an Oct. 14 X post, arguing that repeated partnership announcements have yet to produce the progress in XRP he wants to see. His comments expressed his view of holder frustration, rather than a measure of sentiment among XRP holders as a group.

Ripple and DriveWealth’s Oct. 14 digital asset partnership covers more than stablecoin settlement. The companies plan to use Ripple USD (RLUSD) for settlement on the XRP Ledger in Europe, with a U.S. expansion planned. They also intend to work on cross-border payments and digital asset custody and are exploring equity financing.

The proposed settlement service has no announced launch date. DriveWealth’s plan would allow brokerage clients to add stablecoins to collateral accounts and convert those funds to cash in near real time.

RLUSD is the asset named for settlement in the plan. XRP is the XRP Ledger’s native asset and is used to pay small transaction fees. The companies have not projected how much XRP the service would use, leaving its effect on demand for the asset unspecified.

Separately, a Standard Chartered custody service for RLUSD went live Oct. 12 for eligible clients through the bank’s DIFC Branch. Standard Chartered is also working with Ripple and LMAX Group on a plan to accept RLUSD as collateral for designated LMAX products. That collateral integration remains planned.

The custody service is already available to eligible clients, while the DriveWealth settlement service and LMAX collateral integration are still planned. Those different stages matter when assessing what Ripple’s institutional partnerships currently do for RLUSD and XRP.

XRP was displayed near $1.31 when checked at 6:22 p.m. ET (22:22 UTC) Oct. 19.