Garlinghouse Slams DNB Gold Move and Praises XRP
Garlinghouse uses DNB's gold move to point to slow settlement in the traditional sector. He contrasts that with XRP and stablecoins, while the BIS tested the XRP Ledger.
Key Takeaways
- Brad Garlinghouse criticized De Nederlandsche Bank's move of 86 tons of gold as a sign of slow, old-fashioned financial settlement.
- According to the article, DNB mostly moved paperwork: nearly 70% of the gold shift involved a sale in New York and a buyback in London.
- XRP traded around $1.41 and stayed on the radar of institutions, partly because of a BIS test with the XRP Ledger in which verification took just a few seconds.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse took aim at the $11 billion (€9.5 billion) in gold that De Nederlandsche Bank moved. According to him, that operation shows the global financial sector still works as if it were 1940, while crypto shows how value can move faster.
DNB Moved 86 Tons of Gold
Between March and August, De Nederlandsche Bank sent about 86 tons of gold to London. The gold came from New York and Ottawa. According to the figures, nearly 70% of that move was mostly a paper shift: DNB sold about 59 tons in New York and bought the same amount back in London.
Only 27 tons actually crossed the Atlantic. New York now holds 18.5% of the Dutch reserves, down from 31.3% before. London has risen to 32.1%. In total, DNB holds 612.4 tons of gold, worth 72.2 billion euros at the end of 2025.
Why Garlinghouse Is Bringing This Up
Garlinghouse contrasts that slow settlement with crypto and stablecoins, which he says can move value much faster than traditional banking routes. He also pointed to the sector's growth, from a $1.5 billion (€1.3 billion) experiment to a $2.7 trillion (€2.3 trillion) market.
The Ripple CEO often uses examples like this to show that he does not see crypto as an enemy of banks, but as a way to modernize the existing system. Ripple has long said it wants to help the banking sector innovate instead of competing with it.
XRP Remains on Institutions' Radar
The discussion comes at a time when XRP itself is trading around $1.41 (€1.21), 2.76% lower than a day earlier. Over three months, the price is still up 21%. That makes the coin relevant again in the debate over faster settlement and institutional use.
On top of that, the Bank for International Settlements ran a test with the XRP Ledger this month. In that test, official statistics were recorded within three to five seconds and verification took one to two seconds. That does not say anything about an immediate price reaction, but it does show why XRP is still on the radar for firms looking at faster settlement.
