Ripple Board Member Says Blockchain Is "Unbundling" Traditional Banking

Ripple board member Asheesh Birla believes blockchain is transforming the financial industry by “unbundling” traditional banking services, much like the internet did to newspapers. Drawing parallels to media disruption, Birla explained how newspapers were dismantled into platforms like Craigslist for classifieds, Pinterest for recipes, LinkedIn for job listings, and Substack for opinion content. He argues the same trend is happening to banks, with blockchain driving the shift.

According to Birla, the decentralization and specialization enabled by blockchain technology are allowing new players to take over individual functions historically dominated by banks. These include cross-border payments, lending, custody, and even savings accounts. This mirrors how legacy media lost its one-stop-shop advantage as niche digital services emerged.

Birla also echoed a point made by Bloomberg’s Matt Levine, who recently described stablecoins as a new form of “narrow banking.” These blockchain-based assets, designed to maintain a stable value, offer a simplified model for holding and transferring money—without the complexities or risks of traditional banking intermediaries.

Supporting the trend, Ripple’s own stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), has seen a significant rise in adoption. Its market capitalization has now surpassed $300 million, underlining growing interest in blockchain-powered financial alternatives.

As blockchain innovation continues to chip away at traditional financial structures, experts like Birla believe we are witnessing a fundamental reshaping of how banking is done—service by service. The rise of specialized crypto solutions may redefine what it means to be a bank in the digital age.