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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says the next stage of crypto adoption is being shaped less by market cycles and more by the financial infrastructure now moving onchain.

Speaking alongside Binance CEO Richard Teng and Solana Foundation President Lily Liu during a CoinDesk panel discussion, Garlinghouse pointed to stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets and AI-powered payments as three areas pulling digital assets closer to mainstream finance. The comments come as banks, asset managers and payment companies continue testing blockchain rails after years of treating crypto mainly as a trading market.

Stablecoins remain the clearest entry point. Teng said the sector is gaining traction because global payments are still slow, expensive and fragmented across traditional systems. That argument has become harder for institutions to ignore as stablecoin transfer activity keeps scaling, with Dune Analytics data cited during the panel showing $10.5 trillion in transfer volume in January alone.

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Regulation is also changing the tone around the sector. Teng said momentum around the GENIUS Act has helped strengthen institutional confidence, while Garlinghouse said clearer U.S. rules could bring more banks into the market after years of caution tied to enforcement pressure and reputational damage from Terra and FTX.

Tokenization was the second major theme. Liu described real-world assets as one of blockchain’s largest long-term opportunities, particularly in markets where access to banking and capital markets remains limited. Garlinghouse added that better regulation is making institutions more comfortable with blockchain-based finance, saying crypto is becoming “an exciting word again” inside traditional finance.

The final catalyst sits closer to the next technology cycle. Liu pointed to AI-powered machine-to-machine payments as a long-term use case for Solana (CRYPTO: $SOL), where fast settlement and low fees could support automated payments between software agents, devices and services.

The discussion shows how the adoption narrative is widening. Crypto’s next institutional push is no longer only about bitcoin exposure or exchange trading. It is increasingly about payments, tokenized assets and the infrastructure needed to move value at internet speed.

XRP (CRYPTO: $XRP) is currently trading at $1.44 U.S. per digital token.