Brad Gerlinghouse says $200,000 of Bitcoin is “not unreasonable”

Key takeout

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse suggests that Bitcoin could reach $200,000 due to Crypto Frendly Policies. Ripple settles SEC lawsuits for $50 million, driving growth and acquisitions.

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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said Bitcoin’s $200,000 price target is achievable, bringing institutional profits up and U.S. regulators will move towards a more crypto-friendly approach.

“I don’t think $200,00 is unreasonable,” Garlinghouse said when asked about Bitcoin’s price target in an interview with Fox Business Network’s The Claman Countdown on Friday. “I don’t predict XRP. I’m too close to my home.”

Coingecko’s data shows Bitcoin at around $83,500, reflecting a 3% increase over the past day. However, major digital assets are 23% lower than the peak value reached January 20th.

Garlinghouse said it avoids short-term Bitcoin forecasts and focuses on long-term macro trends. Ripple’s CEO believes that macro tail winding and the reversal of hostility in US regulations will continue to drive value in the crypto space.

“In the crypto industry in the XRP ecosystem, we are thinking about what macro trends are,” Garlinghouse said. “XRP has been the most performant major cipher in the last 90 days. I’m thinking about what it will look like over the next three years. I’m very optimistic.”

Gerlinghouse believes people underestimate the impact of the US economy on the crypto market. He said that the economic power has shifted from “headwinds, hostility” to “tailwinds,” but the markets are not fully aware of the positive impact of this change in regulations.

“The world’s largest asset managers now become a friendly market from relatively frozen or hostile, which has wise regulations that are thinking about promoting favors at home,” he said.

Garlinghouse agrees that crypto acts as a hedge against inflation and global currency instability, despite the instability of short-term movements.

“The long-term value here will be very clear. That (crypto) is a hedge against inflation. This means that the more utilities you drive in the crypto market, the more value you get to that market,” he said.

ETF as a more secure, institutionalized gateway to the crypto market

This week, Teucrium launched its double-length XRP ETF, the first US-powered XRP ETF. The product has debuted trading volume of $5 million, making it the top 5% of new ETF launches.

In the ETF market, multiple applications of XRP ETFs have been submitted in the US but have not yet been approved. Garlinghouse said the XRP ETF represents a safer, more institutional gateway to the crypto market.

He previously predicted that the XRP ETF would debut later this year. JPMorgan and standard chartered estimated XRP ETFs, if approved, could attract $8 billion inflows in the first year.

Discussing Ripple’s recent acquisition of $1.25 billion Hidden Road, Garlinghouse said the company had not made a deal a year ago due to hostile regulatory conditions under the Biden administration.

The move comes as the company expands its employees to around 1,100 employees. He said the acquisition could allow the Wall Street giant to access crypto via traditional infrastructure.

“This allows large institutions like BlackRock, like the biggest Wall Street financial institutions, to enter this market in a way that will help you understand with a safer prime broker and provide a bigger balance sheet to do that. That’s good for the industry as a whole,” he said.

Under Trump, Ripple has seen a clear policy shift in favour of crypto innovation. Garlinghouse rated David Sacks, Scott Bessent and newly confirmed SEC Chairman Paul Atkins for creating a more encryption-friendly regulatory environment.

Garlinghouse noted that Stablecoin law and market structure bills are gaining momentum in Capitol Hill. He hopes that federal government’s ridiculous laws and market structure reforms will soon pass, supporting companies like Ripple, Circle, and Tether.

Ripple’s RLUSD Stablecoin, launched under a New York Trust license, is over $250 million in market capitalization, approaching $300 million.

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