A debate over the XRP Ledger’s (XRPL) economy model has ignited after Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), David Schwartz, directly addressed questions about taxation on the blockchain. Critics have suggested that if XRP holders do not earn from the ecosystem, someone must be collecting a tax. Schwartz’s response challenges this assumption, framing the XRP Ledger as a public utility rather than a profit-generating mechanism for token holders. The debate has since sparked broader conversations about real-world use cases, passive income expectations, and the underlying purpose of the XRPL blockchain. Ripple CTO Says No Tax On The XRP Ledger In a post on X social media, Schwartz clarified that the XRP Ledger does not impose a tax on its users. He explained that the ledger allows holders to issue assets, trade, create NFTs, and make payments without central authority extracting value from these financial activities. He also stated that transaction fees and reserves exist solely as anti-spam measures, not as a mechanism for wealth extraction. Related Reading: Ripple CTO Explains Real Value Of XRP Ledger And Why It Doesn’t Trigger Price Rallies The Ripple CTO emphasized that ownership of XRP does not give anyone the right to collect fees or profits from the ledger itself. He drew a comparison to Bitcoin’s blockchain, highlighting that the XRPL provides similar decentralized functionality while also supporting features such as Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs), stablecoins, and NFTs. These features work without XRP holders needing to profit from the system’s operations. Schwartz’s remarks on taxes on the XRPL blockchain come after Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, raised questions about who benefits if XRP holders do not earn anything from the ecosystem and the protocol itself does not generate value. In response, other members of the community, including XRPL dUNL validator Vet, emphasized that the absence of a tax encourages developers and users to focus on building meaningful, functional use cases rather than relying on passive income. XRP’s Utility Outweighs Tax Considerations The XRPL tax debate between Schwartz and Sigel also intersected with discussions about the blockchain’s real-world applications. In a much earlier post, Sigel questioned the blockchain’s relevance, subtly hinting that its supporters overstate its functionality. Related Reading: XRP Leading A $400 Trillion Revolution? How Ripple’s Tokenization Campaign Is Sparking Utility In response, an XRP community member pointed to the recent collaboration between Ondo Finance, Ripple, and BlackRock, in which the XRP Ledger will be utilized for stablecoin issuance, minting, Treasury asset redemption, and liquidity enhancement in financial markets. While Sigel acknowledged the innovative initiative, he reiterated that these applications do not directly generate revenue for XRP token holders, highlighting a gap between network activity and personal gain. Schwartz responded by explaining that the value of XRPL stems from enabling financial independence and reducing reliance on intermediaries, rather than providing passive income. He added that focusing on tax collection as a measure of success can overshadow the blockchain’s purpose of promoting open access and meaningful innovation. Featured image from Peakpx, chart from Tradingview.com
A discussion has surfaced within the crypto community regarding the reasoning behind XRP’s fixed supply of 100 billion tokens. For years, enthusiasts and investors have questioned why Ripple opted for such a large figure when most cryptocurrencies operate with far smaller caps. Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, recently addressed the question on the social platform X, shedding light on the considerations that guided the early design of the XRP Ledger. Technical Foundations Behind XRP’s 100 Billion Supply David Schwartz was one of the original architects behind XRP and the XRP Ledger in 2012, and as such, he possesses unmatched insight into the cryptocurrency’s tokenomics and the rationale that shaped its design. His response to the question regarding XRP’s 100 billion supply design revealed that the decision was rooted in technical precision and deliberate effort to balance the functionality of the token’s architecture. Related Reading: Evernorth Has Reached 95% Of Its XRP Treasury Target – Here Are The Numbers The first layer of reasoning behind XRP’s supply lies in its technical design. According to Schwartz, the developers of the Ledger sought a number that would provide adequate divisibility for the token. This level of divisibility allows XRP to be functional across both high-value institutional payments and smaller, everyday transactions. Equally important was the need for the total supply to fit cleanly within a 64-bit integer, a standard data type used in computing to store numerical values efficiently. This decision minimizes the risk of overflow errors or arithmetic inconsistencies in the ledger’s codebase. A supply as large as 100 billion allows the system to handle every transaction amount accurately while preserving performance and compatibility with conventional software frameworks. Usability And Design Simplicity Aside from the technical justifications, the choice of 100 billion was also made with human usability in mind. As noted by Schwartz, the third reason for XRP’s 100 billion circulating supply is that the number is easy for humans to remember. Related Reading: High Liquidity At This Level Could Send The XRP Price Surging Soon Ripple’s architects wanted a total supply that was easy to communicate, recognize, and remember. A round, memorable number like 100 billion conveys clarity to users and traders. Although XRP has a maximum supply of 100 billion tokens, not every token is currently in circulation. At the time of writing, XRP has a circulating supply of 60.1 billion tokens. At the launch of the Ledger, a total supply of 100 billion XRP was pre-mined and fixed. Of this amount, approximately 55 billion XRP were placed into escrow contracts controlled by Ripple to control how many tokens enter the market over time. At the time of writing, about 35 billion XRP tokens are currently locked in escrow and waiting to be released into circulation. Each month, up to 1 billion XRP is released, and any unused portion (about 70% to 80%) is typically placed back into escrow. As part of the schedule, Ripple is going to unlock another 1 billion XRP from escrow on November 1. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $2.51, up by 0.9% in the past 24 hours. Featured image from Freepik, chart from Tradingview.com
What gives XRP its value? In an exchange on X, Ripple CTO David Schwartz – known as “JoelKatz” – tried to answer that question without pretending crypto already behaves like traditional assets. He didn’t lean on marketing language about instant settlement or global payments. He talked about power, control, censorship, incentive design, and speculation. How Does XRP Get Its Value? First, Schwartz reframed what XRP is actually for. He argued that the XRP Ledger is built for people and institutions that don’t want an intermediary sitting in the middle of their transactions. He put it in blunt terms: “Do you want to use a blockchain where people can be their own bank and no middlemen tax their transactions or do you want to be someone else’s bank and tax their transactions? If you want the latter, there are dozens of blockchains for you. If you want the former, there’s XRP.” In that framing, XRP is not just another token. It’s the only counterparty-free asset native to XRPL. Everything else on the ledger is an IOU from someone – a promise by an issuer, bank, fintech, money transmitter, or gateway. XRP is the exception. It exists on-ledger, without an issuer, and can move between any accounts without anyone else’s permission, freeze authority, or seizure authority. Related Reading: High Liquidity At This Level Could Send The XRP Price Surging Soon Schwartz made that explicit: “XRP is the only asset without a counterparty that can be accessed by every account in every jurisdiction with no risk of default, freeze, or clawback.” That point is central to how Ripple has always positioned XRP: the ledger is multi-currency, but only one asset on it is universally clean. What Schwartz is arguing is that this special status is not cosmetic. It is economic. He said: “I do think XRP’s special place on XRPL ensures that XRP will capture some of the value XRPL transactions generate.” To understand that claim, you have to understand how most blockchains try to “capture value.” The dominant 2020–2025 playbook in crypto is explicit extraction. Protocols design fee switches, burn mechanisms, staking capture, MEV capture, sequencer rent, or other tolls, and then say to the market: holding this token entitles you to a share of that toll. Schwartz is openly saying XRPL is not built like that. The XRP Ledger was not designed to tax users at the protocol layer. In his view, that’s a feature, not a bug. He described XRPL as a public good, not a rent machine. He explained it by analogy: “When you ask what eBay is good for, you normally don’t think about it being a good way to enrich the people who invest in eBay. You think of it as a way of bringing buyers and sellers together with the buyers and sellers wanting the costs to be as low as possible. The buyers and sellers shouldn’t want eBay’s investors taxing their transactions as much as they can get away with because that is mostly money the buyers have to pay but sellers don’t get.” Then he applied that logic directly to XRPL: “I think of XRPL as a public good that doesn’t tax people who want to use its capabilities. I am not arguing that it is the best design or even that it’s better than most other designs. But it is different. XRP really is about being your own bank and having no middlemen passively taxing your transactions.” XRP Price Is Driven By Speculation This is where the philosophical tension becomes an economic tension. If XRPL is designed not to skim value from users, then how does XRP appreciate? Why should holding XRP benefit from the ledger’s success? Schwartz’s answer is that XRP’s role as the only universal, non-freezable settlement asset on XRPL is itself enough to force some level of demand if XRPL becomes important infrastructure. In other words, the ledger doesn’t have to tax flow in order for XRP to matter. XRP matters if the ledger matters. But Schwartz did not pretend that this mechanism is currently driving price on its own. In fact, he went in the opposite direction and said something most executives in crypto either won’t admit or can’t afford to say in public. He said the market is still pricing the future, not the present: “The funny thing is that I think that most of the value of most cryptocurrencies comes from expected future speculation. So if what you care about future price changes, what people think will happen is much more important than what has happened.” Related Reading: XRP Chart Mirrors Gold Right Before Its Parabolic Run Then he pointed at bitcoin to make the point unavoidable: “Look at bitcoin. Most of the current investment thesis is something like, ‘Imagine if most companies start storing 1% of their treasury in bitcoin, what will that do to the price?’. What that’s saying is that in the future, more people will speculate on future price appreciation than speculate currently.” And he went even further: “It’s not even based on expected future utility, it’s based on expected future speculation! I want to believe utility matters, I really do.” That last line is probably the most revealing thing Schwartz said. He is not saying “XRP price today is purely a function of measurable payment volume today.” He’s saying that’s not how crypto is priced, period. Crypto, in his view, is reflexive: people buy because they believe other people will one day buy for the same reason, at higher size and higher urgency. That leads to the next objection: if value is driven by expectation of an “explosion scenario,” shouldn’t tokens be basically worthless until that scenario actually hits scale? Schwartz rejected that. He argued that markets continuously reprice probability, not outcomes: “There may come a day when we look at today’s cryptocurrency values as, in comparison, nothing. But the idea that values will be very low and then suddenly rise is just not how speculation works. As the probability of explosion or size of expected explosion grows, value follows.” At press time, XRP traded at $2.48. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Evernorth has emerged as the latest powerhouse in institutional crypto accumulation, closing in on its ambitious XRP treasury goal. In just a few days, the firm has reached 95% of its accumulation target, marking a major milestone in XRP’s journey toward broader institutional adoption. The rapid growth of Evernorth’s reserves and its strategic partnerships has sparked renewed excitement across the XRP community, signaling what could be a pivotal shift in how institutions engage with the cryptocurrency. Evernorth Nears $1 Billion In XRP Holdings A new report from CryptoQuant has revealed that Evernorth’s XRP holdings is now nearing the $1 billion funding milestone, positioning it among the top institutional holders of the cryptocurrency. According to JA Maartunn, a community analyst at CryptoQuant, Evernorth currently holds 388,710,606.03 XRP, reaching 95% of its $1 billion target. Related Reading: Rumors Circulate That Ripple Is Buying $1 Billion Worth Of XRP — Here’s What We Know The company’s total XRP treasury is now valued at approximately $947,183,571, with unrealized profits of roughly $46 million generated in four days. This figure reflects an average purchase price of $2.44 per XRP, which Maartunn believes could become a defining price level for the cryptocurrency’s market trajectory. Notably, Evernorth’s XRP treasury comes amid a broader trend of institutional diversification toward digital assets. Earlier this year, several major crypto treasury institutions—most notably Strategy, with its aggressive Bitcoin accumulation strategy, and The Ether Machine, with its dedicated focus on Ethereum—set the tone for large-scale crypto accumulation. Evernorth’s expanding holdings signal a decisive shift beyond BTC and ETH, underscoring a maturing institutional demand for alternative layer-1 assets. It also suggests that XRP may become the next frontier for institutional treasuries seeking exposure to high-liquidity, regulated crypto assets. Evernorth’s XRP Growth Strategy Asheesh Birla, the CEO of Evernorth, introduced the treasury company last week, on October 20, through an X post. He described it as an institutional vehicle built to propel XRP’s global adoption. The announcement detailed the company’s plans to go public through a SPAC merger with Armada Acquisition Corp II (NASDAQ:AACI), targeting gross proceeds of more than $1 billion. Related Reading: XRP Price Teleport To $6: What Happens When The Euphoric Phase Begin Evernorth’s growth strategy includes acquiring XRP through innovative financial structures designed to maximize XRP per share and expanding internationally into key markets like Japan and South Korea. The company also plans to diversify its yield generation through risk-mitigated treasury deployment. These initiatives reflect a deliberate, structured approach toward building a long-term institutional presence around XRP. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has also praised Birla’s initiative, noting Ripple’s partnership and investment alongside prominent firms such as SBI Holdings, Pantera Capital, Kraken, GSR, and Rippleworks. Garlinghouse said that Evernorth’s participation in institutional lending, liquidity provision, and DeFi yield opportunities will be instrumental in expanding XRP’s utility. Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, who joins Evernorth as a strategic advisor, echoed this sentiment, expressing enthusiasm for building scalable opportunities for XRP across DeFi and capital markets. Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com
The XRP community’s attention has been drawn to a $600 million transfer, which has sparked speculation about its potential impact on the altcoin’s price. The transfer notably originated from a Ripple wallet address, further fueling speculations that the crypto firm is dumping on retail investors. $600 Million in XRP Tokens Moved by Ripple Spark Speculation Whale Alert data shows that Ripple moved 200 million XRP ($610 million) from one of its wallets, sparking speculation that the crypto firm was looking to offload these coins. Moreover, the transfer comes as XRP struggles to hold above the psychological $3 level, suggesting that the altcoin may be facing significant selling pressure. Related Reading: Analyst Says XRP Price Target Of $27 Still Holds – ‘The Ride Has Just Begun’ However, further on-chain data shows that Ripple simply moved these XRP tokens to another of its wallet addresses, suggesting that this was a routine operation rather than a move to offload these coins. An X user, XRP Liquidity, also clarified that the transfer was made from the ‘Ripple 1’ address to ‘Ripple 50’, which the account stated is “queuing for ODL, ETPs, Trust, and other Investments.” Another X user, Marc, also noted that the Ripple 50 wallet primarily interacts with the Binance 11 wallet and holds tokenized treasuries, including Ondo Finance’s tokenized treasury fund (OUSG). The crypto firm mainly utilizes its XRP holdings to support its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service, facilitating cross-border transfers through its payment services. However, this latest transfer comes at a time when there is so much bearish sentiment among XRP community members. Popular community members, such as Crypto Bitlord, have consistently criticized Ripple and recently advised XRP holders to sell their tokens following Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz’s, announcement that he was resigning. Amid XRP’s struggles, the altcoin has now dropped in the crypto rankings by market cap, losing the number 3 spot to BNB. A ‘Promising Buy Signal’ For XRP On-chain analytics platform Santiment has described the current FUD in the XRP community as a promising buy signal for the altcoin. The platform stated that the altcoin is seeing its highest level of retail FUD since the Trump tariffs were announced 6 months ago. According to Santiment, there have been more bearish comments than bullish for two out of the past three days. The platform claimed that this development is generally a promising buy signal, as markets move in the opposite direction of small trader expectations. As such, XRP could witness a significant price surge amid these bearish sentiments. The XRP ETFs could serve as one of the catalysts for this potential price surge, although a SEC decision is on hold until the U.S. government shutdown ends. Related Reading: XRP Short Squeeze: Analyst Reveals Available Trading Supply Could Fall To Bitcoin’s 21 Million At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading $2.84, down over 4% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com
David Schwartz, one of Ripple’s longest-serving figures, announced on Sept. 30 that he will step down as Chief Technology Officer after more than thirteen years in the position. Schwartz, who joined Ripple in its early days and became one of the most recognizable voices in the XRP community, said the decision followed what he called […]
The post XRP rises towards $3 as early Ripple employee steps away from leadership appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Crypto analyst Xena has declared that the XRP price will definitely reach $10,000. The analyst further gave reasons why she holds this belief and likened XRP’s potential run to that of Bitcoin. Why The XRP Price Will Reach $10,000 In an X post, Xena asserted that the XRP price will reach $10,000 without a doubt. She noted that some market participants argue that XRP should at least cross its all-time high (ATH) first before such projections, but the analyst believes that is not the point. The analyst suggested that market participants are too focused on the short-term, while alluding to how people said Bitcoin should reach $1,000 first when articles said it would reach $1 million. Related Reading: How The XRP Price Can Go To $100 And What Is Required To Reach $1,000 Xena remarked that many regret not holding a few Bitcoin today, seeing how it has surged amid these predictions. She told market participants that they have the choice to be sarcastic and do nothing, or hold XRP and be patient in anticipation of the XRP price rally. The analyst then drew attention to when she bought BTC between $200 and $600 and Ethereum at $5. She explained that she took a leap of faith back then and is now happy with her decision, seeing how the two largest coins by market capitalization have surged to massive heights. Xena noted that people also said the same thing that they are currently saying about the XRP price back then, that BTC and ETH won’t reach a particular price. Xena claimed that the naysayers would always exist and have their own convictions while they think they know better. However, she doesn’t believe that they know better than Ripple’s co-founder and XRP Ledger developer Arthur Britto, who the community claims predicted that the XRP price would reach $10,000. The Ripple Factor For The Projected Rally Xena also suggested that she believes the XRP price can reach $10,000 based on Ripple’s supposed hint about higher prices for the altcoin. She specifically alluded to the $589 price target and remarked that the crypto firm has been hinting that there is something special about this number. Related Reading: Pundit Reveals What Will Happen When XRP Price Hits $100 And $1,000 She further noted that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has been following only 589 people with so much consistency. The analyst then questioned community members whether they would prefer to listen to X haters or Ripple CTO David Schwartz, she claimed clearly told them that XRP can reach a high price depending on different factors. Xena added that when Arthur Britto says that XRP is designed to reach $10,000, then the community should pay attention. At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $2.81, down over 6% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com
The XRP community has been paying close attention to Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, as he continues to share details about his latest project. Based on a recent post on X, Schwartz signaled a development that could soon move beyond testing and into production. To accompany his update, he shared performance charts that provide a glimpse into how the system has been running in the past few days. Ripple CTO Prepares XRPL Hub For Production David Schwartz revealed on the social media platform X that the XRPL Hub server he has been testing is close to being ready for production. Schwartz explained that the past three days of performance have been encouraging, and stability levels are now high enough for the hub to be considered for wider rollout next week. Related Reading: Ripple CTO Says Next Project Is ‘Production Ready’, What Is It? Schwartz had previously revealed his plans to create a high-performance hub that sets aside special connection slots for UNL validators, important nodes, and servers that run XRPL-based applications. The hub is designed to strengthen XRPL’s connectivity by improving reliability for peers and validators, while also providing developers with a consistent gateway into the network. In his update, Schwartz noted that the server has been stable since its restart five days ago. According to the metrics he shared, the hub has been maintaining a peer count that has steadily increased from around 300 connections earlier in the week to over 357 peers at the most recent check. This consistency indicates that the server is successfully handling traffic across the XRPL ecosystem. What’s Next For The Hub? Schwartz noted that the system had shown strong performance over the last three days, enough for him to consider transitioning it into production as early as next week. However, the monitoring data showed occasional latency spikes, which Schwartz linked to higher outbound bandwidth usage. These spikes did not occur every time bandwidth rose, and this makes the pattern somewhat puzzling but not alarming. Related Reading: Ripple CTO Says XRP Ledger Has Been Battle-Tested To Power World’s Financial System On the other hand, latency stayed well below levels that would impact real-world performance, with the 10% latency line never exceeding 33 milliseconds since the restart. The broader latency averages are comfortably within acceptable ranges. Even at peaks, the bandwidth usage is within safe capacity. Peer disconnections, which saw spikes earlier in the week, have since normalized to an average around 17 per interval. Together, these metrics underline that the system is stable and capable of supporting a wider role within the XRPL ecosystem as Schwartz prepares for the next stage. Reactions to Schwartz’s update on X show that the XRPL community is closely tracking the hub’s development, and many XRP enthusiasts have welcomed the prospect of a production-ready rollout. If all goes well, Schwartz should be able to give a definitive update regarding production next week. Schwartz had clarified that this hub is a personal project he has been building independently, separate from his work as CTO at Ripple. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com
Ripple chief technology officer (CTO) David “JoelKatz” Schwartz used a late-Wednesday post on X to frame a surge of payments and stablecoin companies launching their own base-layer networks as validation of blockchain’s role in finance—and to restate how the XRP Ledger’s design differs from the new entrants. “We’ve been seeing more and more players in the payments and stablecoins space launch their own blockchains. To me, that’s a clear sign the market sees blockchain as core financial infrastructure — something we’ve believed in and have been building toward on the XRP Ledger for over 13 years,” he wrote, adding, “Launching a blockchain is hard. Building an ecosystem with developers, liquidity, trust, and real-world usage is even harder.” Competition For Ripple And The XRP Ledger? Schwartz situated XRPL’s posture in the long-running debate over network governance. “Some blockchains are built with permissioned validator sets controlled by one entity or a small group. This can provide control and compliance for specific, closed-network scenarios, but it limits reach, resilience, and the ability for anyone to contribute to securing and growing the network,” he wrote. Related Reading: XRP Ruling Sends Shockwaves Through The Financial System “As many of you know, the XRPL is public and permissionless at its core, with optional permissioned features for regulated use cases.” He argued that the ledger’s open base “makes it adaptable, interoperable, and well-positioned to serve as critical infrastructure for the world’s financial system — connecting assets, markets, and participants seamlessly across borders.” The remarks arrive as two US fintech heavyweights move into L1 territory. Circle this week unveiled Arc, an EVM-compatible Layer-1 it says is “purpose-built for stablecoin finance,” with dollar-denominated fees (USDC as native gas), opt-in privacy, a built-in RFQ-style FX engine, and “deterministic sub-second settlement finality” via the Malachite consensus engine. Circle says Arc will enter private testnet in the coming weeks, target public testnet in the fall, and a mainnet beta in 2026. Separately, Stripe is developing Tempo, a high-performance, payments-focused L1 being built in partnership with crypto VC firm Paradigm. Tempo is designed to run code compatible with Ethereum, is currently in stealth with a small team, and it remains unclear whether it will have a native token. Schwartz also highlighted specific XRPL design choices he sees as aligned with financial-grade settlement. “It’s encouraging to see some newer chains adopt design choices that have long been part of the XRPL’s architecture, like deterministic finality … It shows there’s growing alignment in the industry on the importance of predictable, reliable settlement for financial applications without expensive validation,” he wrote. He reiterated that XRPL fees are meant to stay “low and predictable, just fractions of a cent, without a separate gas token,” noting that “every transaction on the XRPL uses/burns XRP.” XRPL’s technical documentation specifies that each transaction destroys a small amount of XRP as an anti-spam fee, and describes consensus rules aimed at deterministic ordering and finality. Related Reading: XRP Double-Bottom Breakout Sets Sights On $34, Predicts Analyst Where Schwartz drew a line was on governance flexibility. He acknowledged that permissioned validator sets can make sense for “specific, closed-network scenarios,” but underscored XRPL’s approach: a public, permissionless core with opt-in controls for compliance needs. The ledger’s native features include Authorized Trust Lines, Deposit Authorization/Preauthorization, and issuer-level freeze tooling for issued assets—not for XRP itself—allowing regulated token issuers to gate or police flows without converting the entire network into a walled garden. XRPL’s own FAQ emphasizes that it is a decentralized, public blockchain where changes require supermajority validator approval. The strategic contrast with the new fintech chains is already visible. Arc explicitly centers USDC—making fees dollar-denominated and embedding Circle’s payments stack—whereas XRPL retains XRP for fees and settlement while supporting issued assets through trust-line mechanics. If Tempo proceeds as reported, Stripe would be pursuing an Ethereum-compatible L1 optimized for predictable payments performance, potentially mirroring Arc’s enterprise-centric pitch but with a broader merchant-services integration surface. Schwartz closed on a deliberately expansive note about the competitive set: “Looking forward to the next phase of XRPL innovations, bringing more programmability, compliance-grade capabilities, and deeper liquidity for institutional use,” he wrote—before welcoming rivals: “And to those just getting started… Welcome to the party! The crypto tent is only getting bigger.” At press time, XRP traded at $3.23. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Crypto analyst Ripple Queen has made a bold prediction that the XRP price can reach $10,000 at some point. The analyst also highlighted factors that make this price target achievable despite how ambitious it is. XRP Price To $10,000 Is Already On The Horizon In an X post, Ripple Queen declared that an XRP price tag of $10,000 is already “locked in.” She claimed that the math proves that the altcoin can reach this target and then alluded to how its supply is limited and its utility is unmatched. The analyst added that the world is catching up fast, indicating that more people are adopting XRP. Related Reading: Market Cap Not A Hindrance To XRP Price Reaching $1,000, Expert Explains Why Ripple Queen further stated that regulatory clarity is falling into place for the crypto industry, which is bullish for the XRP price. Thanks to this regulatory clarity, with laws like the GENIUS Act, Ripple is set to expand its operations, which will boost XRP’s adoption. The altcoin is known to be at the centre of the crypto firm’s operations. Ripple CTO David Schwartz also recently indicated that it will continue to be the bridge currency for their payment services. In line with this, Ripple Queen remarked that mass adoption is no longer a dream but a countdown, which is why she believes that the XRP price will reach $10,000. The analyst also stated that banks and institutional investors are quietly accumulating, a move that she is confident will soon lead to a massive supply shock for the altcoin. These institutional investors will also have an avenue to accumulate more XRP once the SEC approves the spot ETFs. Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart have already predicted a 95% chance of approval for the XRP ETFs. The launch of these funds will drive more capital into the altcoin’s ecosystem, which is bullish for the XRP price. Current Price Action On Journey To $10,000 Crypto analyst CasiTrades has provided insights into the current XRP price action, even as it eyes this projected rally to $10,000. In an X post, she stated that the price action isn’t bearish yet from a technical standpoint despite the recent correction. The analyst noted that the low at $2.75 remains above the wave 1 high around $2.65, which keeps the larger uptrend intact. Related Reading: Analyst Says XRP Price Is Now In Wave 4 — What To Expect CasiTrades further revealed that bullish divergences are showing up on the 15-minute chart up to the 4-hour chart. She claimed that this supports the case that $2.75 could be the bottom of this corrective wave. Moving forward, the analyst stated that a proper reclaim of $3.21 and a strong break above this level would begin to confirm that the correction is over and that the next leg up is underway. If that happens, the next target zone will be between $4.60 and $4.80. At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $3.05, up over 2% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com
The Central banks, institutions, and payment corridors are experimenting with something deeper than crypto hype. From cross-border settlements to real-world assets, Ripple is building blockchain infrastructure. If recent comments from top banking executives are any indication, XRP may move trillions in value. The Settlement Layer No One Saw Coming According to KingXRP, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is on the brink of a groundbreaking transformation that could unlock a staggering $196 trillion market through the emergence of RealFi and real-world finance powered by blockchain technology. His post includes a recent interview with Teucrium CEO Sal Gilbertie, where he made a bold declaration that XRP and Ripple will move trillions and tokenize the entire financial system. Related Reading: XRP’s Secret Weapon? Ripple Exec Says It’s Not What You Think As mentioned in the video, XRP is often misunderstood. It can be traded and speculated on like any other asset, but its true purpose goes much deeper. Ripple is the company behind XRP, and it was originally founded to facilitate fast, efficient money transfers across borders. Apparently, XRP is now evolving far beyond simple transactions. It’s becoming a foundational tool for tokenizing a wide range of assets and enabling the movement of value in new and innovative ways. As Ripple continues to advance its level 2 infrastructure, it’s becoming increasingly clear that they are positioning to tokenize the entire financial system. They have acquired a broker-dealer clearing member, which is a strategic move that brings them one step closer to integrating deeply with the traditional financial markets. This move marks what Gilbertie believes is the first step toward integrating traditional finance with DeFi. The acquisition of a broker-dealer isn’t just a technicality, but it’s the kind of infrastructure move that would rewire the system in the future. XRP Moves Into Institutional Payment Rails CryptoGeek has also shared an update on X about Ripple Chief Technology Officer (CTO), David Schwartz, stating that banks are now integrating XRP. Meanwhile, Ripple Bank will operate entirely on the XRP Ledger, settling all payments with XRP as its core asset. Related Reading: Ripple CEO Debunks SWIFT Partnership, XRP To Dramatically Change Payments Infrastructure Schwartz emphasized in the video that closing a deal with a bank always feels exciting, and it looks great on paper, which signals validation. However, behind the scenes, it’s a different story, and banks are extremely slow to move, cautious, conservative, and are bound by layers of internal processes. Furthermore, Schwartz stated that the team focused a lot on banks, because landing a press release with a major institution looked like progress. It felt like a milestone, and over time, the firm realized most of them were only in it for the optics. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com
Ripple Labs Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, has offered rare and pointed clarity on what drives the XRP price value in the long term, despite the company’s recent spotlight on its new stablecoin, RLUSD. In a recent exchange with an XRP supporter on social media, Schwartz emphasized that the crypto continues to sit at the core of Ripple’s payment infrastructure, especially as the main bridge asset in cross-border transfers. XRP’s Role As A Bridge Asset Is Still Central While RLUSD plays a specific role, Schwartz reveals XRP’s utility in real financial use cases will ultimately boost its value. His comments reaffirm Ripple’s longstanding plan for the digital asset, relying on XRP for its proven liquidity and built-in role on the ledger as it explores other digital options. Related Reading: XRP Set To Explode? Analyst Sees $5 Surge Any Moment – Details In his response, Schwartz directly addressed growing speculation that the company may be shifting its attention away from XRP in favor of its new stablecoin, assuring that the digital asset remains Ripple’s cross-currency asset that allows for fast, low-cost currency exchanges. While Schwartz didn’t share exact data, he said he was confident that the token’s usage “dwarfs every other asset” in Ripple’s system. XRP links to how the XRP Ledger functions, so an increase in ledger activity is almost guaranteed to drive more demand for the crypto token, naturally lifting its price value as it becomes more essential in global financial workflows. Schwartz argued that as real-world adoption of the Ripple blockchain networks grows, so will demand for XRP. The embedded demand, as more businesses and developers build on XRPL, is what could be the core driver of XRP’s future price value. Ripple CTO: Stablecoins Support, XRP Sustains Some community members worried that Ripple’s new stablecoin RLUSD, launched in December 2024, could replace the crypto token, but Schwartz clarifies that the stablecoin and XRP serve different purposes. He said stablecoins like RLUSD are better suited for use cases that require a fixed value, such as when companies post collateral or need to enter and exit markets without dealing with large price swings. Related Reading: XRP Blows Cold: Price Crash To $2.15 Still Possible If Buyers Falter Volatility in crypto markets can be disruptive in these scenarios, and stablecoins avoid that issue by holding a steady price. However, Schwartz believes that for most other applications, especially those related to real finance and long-term holdings, digital assets like XRP are still the better choice. He noted that, unless highly risk-averse, most long-term users would likely prefer holding the top digital asset over cash because of their potential for upside and active role in blockchain ecosystems. The Ripple exec added that as more institutions turn to XRPL for financial use cases, XRP’s role in facilitating quick currency movement becomes more vital, particularly in volatile markets where stablecoins may not be ideal. Schwartz made a subtle but important distinction, saying XRP’s place on XRPL is privileged. With this, the crypto token is less likely to be replaced or worked around, providing a long-term advantage that many other tokens may not have. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView.com
Ripple CTO David “JoelKatz” Schwartz has outlined how RLUSD—the upcoming stablecoin on the XRP Ledger—could initially trade at highly inflated prices, possibly even $1,200, despite its intended $1 peg. Speaking via X, he highlighted early supply bottlenecks, speculative fervor, and the fundamental market mechanics of stablecoins as factors likely to drive any short-lived spike. Why […]
In a recent Joe Rogan interview, Mark Andreesen revealed that the debanking of tech firms caused the Silicon Valley shift toward Trump.
Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, and David Schwartz, the Chief Technology Officer of Ripple, have unveiled details about a potential collaboration between their respective blockchain platforms. The partnership aims to integrate Cardano’s advanced decentralized finance (DeFi) capabilities with Ripple’s extensive liquidity network, potentially bridging two of the industry’s most prominent ecosystems. Potential Cardano And […]
In an exchange on X (formerly Twitter), Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz, also known as “JoelKatz”, addressed criticisms about his company and the XRP Ledger. Has Ripple Failed With Its Payments Business? User @188ape challenged Schwartz by questioning the uniqueness of the XRPL in today’s market, stating that it seems like “most new layer […]
Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.
In an exchange on X, Ripple‘s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), David Schwartz, also known as JoelKatz, responded to queries about the strikingly similar price movements of XRP and Stellar (XLM). This discussion has brought to light not just the intertwined market dynamics of these two major cryptocurrencies but also the complex factors influencing their valuation. Curious Correlation Between XRP And XLM Schwartz candidly addressed a post by Good Morning Crypto, who highlighted a long-term price chart comparison between XRP and XLM since 2014, questioning the “unnatural price symmetry” and the potential for both to “breakout together during this bull run.” Schwartz replied, “I genuinely don’t know. The thing that I think is most likely is that both prices are driven primarily by factors completely outside their ecosystems.” Related Reading: Ready For Liftoff: XRP Price Primed To Skyrocket Before November However, Schwartz also acknowledged conflicting evidence to his theory. When pressed for specifics regarding the unusual correlation, he pointed to the significant event of Stellar burning half of their token supply, which surprisingly did not impact their price or disrupt the price correlation pattern with XRP. “The one bit that’s the most convincing to me is that Stellar burned half their supply and there wasn’t so much as a blip on their price chart or any real deviation from XRP’s price correlation,” Schwartz explained. This dialogue underscores a broader narrative within the cryptocurrency sector, where XRP and XLM share not only a founder in Jed McCaleb but also similar technological frameworks aimed at streamlining cross-border payments. Despite these overlaps, the absence of a price impact post-Stellar’s token burn has been a particularly puzzling aspect for analysts and the crypto community alike. Both XRP and XLM have historically mirrored each other’s price movements, potentially due to overlapping use cases, investor behaviors, and market perceptions. As financial tools facilitating quick, cross-border transactions with minimal fees, both have attracted similar investor bases looking for alternatives to traditional banking hurdles. Related Reading: XRP Price Consolidates, Gearing Up for Its Next Major Breakout Market sentiment plays a significant role. News impacting one of the cryptos can quickly spill over to the other due to their perceived substitutability. Additionally, regulatory shifts in one can inadvertently sway investor sentiment towards the other. Popular pro-XRP lawyer Bill Morgan commented on this, “I don’t know what causes it but it shows how useless Ripple burning the escrow would be. Stellar burned XLM and Ripple did not burn XRP and it had no impact on the symmetry. Same for the lawsuit. No impact overall. Stellar was not sued. Factors external to either blockchain and not specific to either Ripple or Stellar must be the explanation.” The ongoing debate includes speculation about whether XRP and XLM will jointly make significant gains in an anticipated bull run. Historical price patterns suggest a high level of correlation, but as Schwartz indicates, external factors such as global market conditions and macroeconomic factors are likely at play. At press time, XRP price stood at $0.5282. Featured image created with DALL·E, chart from TradingView.com
Amid a contentious discussion regarding Ripple and XRP identity, the firm’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) David “JoelKatz” Schwartz has provided insights on the subject, emphasizing the company’s effort to provide clarity between both parties. Ripple CTO On Naming Controversy Both XRP and Ripple have similar pasts; XRP was once known as “ripples” before taking on […]
The token will be "100% backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. government Treasuries and other cash equivalents." according to the company.
Schwartz spoke to The Protocol about the aftermath of Ripple's SEC win, his method for dealing with XRP's rabid fanbase, the XRP Ledger's controversial approach to centralization, and more.