On The Chain - Blockchain and Cryptocurrency News + Opinion

Chip is back from Ripple's Swell in New York with a firsthand debrief. With the U.S. Treasury Secretary on stage beside Brad Garlinghouse and the midterms days away, Jeff and Chip break down why XRP just became Washington's problem, and why the crypto rules being written now may be harder to undo than people think.

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's surprise sit-down with Brad Garlinghouse, and the Democratic strategist who said the CLARITY Act likely stalls if Democrats win back Congress.

• Chip's conversation with Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stu Alderoty on why new SEC rulemaking would be hard for a future SEC chair to reverse.

• Brad Garlinghouse on why XRP is still at the heart of Ripple, and how RLUSD on the XRP Ledger brings liquidity back to XRP.

• Matt Damon and Water.org: Ripple Payments and RLUSD powering water microloans with a 98%+ repayment rate.

• Inside Swell: The Shed at Hudson Yards, the XRP subway train under Times Square, and Stefan Thomas revealing he now owns Coil.

• Also in the back half: the Binance hack and why you never keep your whole stack in one place.

Watch and read more: https://onthechain.io/podcast/xrp-just-became-washingtons-problem/

With all the attention on RLUSD, where does that leave XRP? At Ripple Swell 2026, Brad Garlinghouse answered it: XRP is still Ripple's North Star, and about half of all RLUSD is now issued on the XRP Ledger. Jeff flies solo with Chip on the ground in New York: Robinhood and Bitstamp, Evernorth on $400B in tokenized assets, RedotPay, AI agents moving money with AWS, Stripe and Mastercard, XRPL smart features, and the XRP TipBot's return on Xahau. Plus geopolitics: Venezuela oil lands in Texas, the methane rollback, a $1M voter fraud reward, and Trump's answer to Obama.

Watch the show: https://youtu.be/OvObNVHDIDM

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X: @On_The_Chain @Jeff_OnTheChain @stephenchip

Not financial advice. For informational and entertainment purposes only.

For years XRP was the piece Wall Street pushed around the board, sacrificed first and written off every time. Not anymore. Jeff and Chip break down the XRP Ledger Hackathon, FOUNDERS Episode 4, JoelKatz taking on the City of Toronto, and Chip getting shut out of Swell Demo Days. Then the geopolitics: the No Kings rally, liberty versus force, Trump's Michigan rally and the El-Sayed Senate fight, Audi building SUVs in Georgia, Brazil's election, Israel's election, and France's immigration crisis. Watch the full show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WXkMzJx1IA

Wall Street is working out how to make real money from digital assets, and Ripple wants to sell it the plumbing. Jeff and Chip follow the money to the question XRP holders care about: when the banks and Ripple get paid, does any of it reach the people holding the token?

Ripple spotlights a Boston Consulting Group report estimating a regional bank with a $200-300B balance sheet could add up to $100M to its P&L by pairing digital-asset services with the right custody setup. It's a modelled estimate, not booked profit.
- Arf brings settlement liquidity to the XRP Ledger, using RLUSD for short-term working capital for licensed payment firms, and Jeff on why RLUSD volume and XRP value are not the same thing.
- XRP finally gets its own @XRP handle and xrp.org, and Stuart Alderoty files Ripple's comment letter on the SEC's proposed crypto rules.
- Coinbase research: stablecoins settled roughly $35T on-chain in 2025, but only about $390B of it was real payments.
- Bit Water: a $900 water-heater element that mines Bitcoin, and the math on whether it ever pays for itself.
- Also in the back half: Amy Acton's own mother cuts an ad against her, Trump warns Europe over NATO, Rubio names Iran as the Middle East's core problem, Elizabeth Warren on billionaire money, and France burns while Macron blames Trump.

Watch the full show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdik2xa1nss

XRP holders want to get paid, but who pays? Jeff and Chip follow the money through Firelight, the Flare-based protocol now offering onchain cover for a Kraken DeFi Earn strategy. Stakers earn rewards for backing that protection, and a confirmed covered loss can hit their stake. Firelight's Jesus Rodriguez explains why XRP, which never had a native yield, makes cheaper insurance capital for DeFi than ETH insuring ETH.

Also: Flare's Hugo Philion on Flare as the blockchain for data, DriveWealth using Ripple's RLUSD on the XRP Ledger, Swell 2026 in New York, XRPL Africa turning one, why the dollar wins the stablecoin race, how hackers pick DeFi targets, and why Main Street needs insured crypto. In the back half: Spencer Pratt on America, Greta Thunberg and France's riots, Macron, and Warsaw vs Paris.

Watch the show: https://youtube.com/live/y63_tL54reY

Show notes and links: https://onthechain.io/podcast/xrp-holders-getting-paid/