Rising inflation is creating tailwinds for crypto, Ripple CEO says

• Rising inflation has investors concerned as economic recovery slows on new Covid-19 infections
• The Ripple CEO says bitcoin has momentum that could be catalysed by the rising inflation

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse believes the rising inflation being witnessed across the globe is creating “tailwinds” for the cryptocurrency market.

Garlinghouse, who was speaking at the Abu Dhabi Fintech event, said that spiking inflation was shining a spotlight on the crypto sector. The Ripple executive noted that what has happened so far is for bitcoin to emerge as the better asset class for investors looking to hedge against rising inflation.

He said that the world is seeing the biggest inflation jump in decades, a scenario that is set to see more people look to assets that offer a different inflationary dynamic.

 “When people are concerned about holding a fiat currency that might be inflating, and that’s devaluing, they’re looking at: ‘How can I hold other assets that won’t have that same inflationary dynamic?’” he said.

Garlinghouse’s comments come at a time Bitcoin price is trying to reclaim support above $56,800 following an 11% dip in the past seven days. The crypto rose to highs above $69,000 in early November but has faced some headwinds even as commentators and enthusiasts say the digital asset is winning against gold as a better store of value.

“I’m not here to predict where the crypto market will be next year or so, but  I think if you step back and take a long view, these are real technologies that are fundamentally reworking how our financial infrastructure works,” he added.

The XRP cryptocurrency, native to the Ripple network, remains one of the largest crypto assets by market cap.

It currently trades around $1.05, although its year-to-date performance has been overshadowed by the SEC case and by stellar runs for Bitcoin, Ethereum, meme coins Dogecoin and Shiba Inu and lately, Solana and Avalanche.

The crypto market capitalisation rose to over $3 trillion this month but has shed over $200 billion of that to currently fluctuating around $2.8 trillion.

Garlinghouse said on Monday that Ripple expects the SEC’s case against it to should be settled in 2022. He pointed to the “progress” being witnessed in the case, which the US regulator filed in December 2020.