Garlinghouse Blasts Strategy's Financial Engineering Model: 'Damning Indictment'

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse criticized Strategy's (MSTR) financial engineering model, saying it has damaged the wider crypto market. He pointed to the company's Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock (STRC) trading roughly 25% below its $100 par value as a 'damning indictment' of the strategy.

Garlinghouse argued that long-term value comes from utility, not financial engineering, and that Strategy's approach has pulled attention away from what should matter in crypto. He said, 'Team Michael Saylor wasn't focused on the right stuff, and that has hurt the overall market.'

The Ripple CEO remained bullish on Bitcoin (BTC), framing it as 'digital gold' due to its portability. He contrasted Bitcoin's ability to be moved quickly with the time and expense required to move physical gold. Garlinghouse said, 'Now is the time, I think, to be greedy.'

In a separate note, Garlinghouse highlighted Ripple's focus on cross-border payments and the speed of its underlying blockchain for institutions. He said Ripple cleared roughly $16 trillion in payments last year, but nearly none of it using digital assets.