As critics continue to slam XRP amid the Western Union-Solana deal, new voices are joining the discussion.
XRP supporter, EasyA co-founder Dom Kwok, claim The market focus is too narrow. He argues that headlines celebrating Western Union’s decision to issue a stablecoin on Solana overlook the much larger structural changes underway at Ripple.
In his view, the conversation should not revolve around Western Union’s “billions of dollars” but Ripple’s growing exposure to trillions of dollars in global payments and liquidity flows.
Kwok highlighted three key purchases over the past year.
- Hidden Road is a global prime brokerage that processes $3 trillion in transactions annually.
- GTreasury is a global financial management company that powers trillions of dollars in annual payment flows in more than 160 countries.
- Rail is a fast-growing payments platform that processes 10% of all stablecoin-based payment activity worldwide.
In essence, ownership is key. Unlike partnerships, which can be dissolved if corporate strategy changes, acquisitions give Ripple long-term control over how these new infrastructures evolve.
XRP as a payment layer
Central to Kwok’s theory is the idea that XRP is at the “center of everything.”
Because Ripple has full control over a platform that handles trillions of dollars in liquidity flows, the company has both the ability and incentive to migrate payment activity to the XRP Ledger over time.
“Never lose sight of the forest for the trees”
Meanwhile, critics commenting on the Western Union and Solana deal question the relevance of XRP beyond Ripple.
Specifically, market commentator Scott Melker asked a question Even though Western Union has been testing the XRP network for years, it chose Solana over the XRP Ledger and its role in today’s payments ecosystem.
Western Union plans to launch USDPT stablecoin on Solana in 2026 to enable global stablecoin transfers and cash outs. The company could garner a cross-border following of more than $100 billion annually for Solana.
For Kwok, the focus should not be on the flow of billions of dollars, but on the trillions of dollars that Ripple plans to process.
“Don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees,” he said as Ripple is assembling the machinery to push XRP into the center of multitrillion-dollar institutional payments.
“Not billions, but trillions,” Kwok concluded.
Other industry leaders share Kwok’s views. Flare CEO Hugo Fillion previously said: was fired Concerns that Western Union’s partnership with Solana will impact Ripple and XRPL.
He emphasized that Ripple is targeting trading and asset management, as demonstrated by the acquisitions of GTreasury and Hidden Road (Ripple Prime).
Additionally, Flare complements Ripple by extending XRP’s DeFi and cross-chain capabilities.
