XRP Price May Benefit From XRPL Success, Ripple CTO Says

David Schwartz, Ripple's CTO emeritus and one of the original architects of the $XRP Ledger (XRPL), has argued that the network's growing adoption could eventually translate into stronger demand and higher prices for its native cryptocurrency, $XRP.

In a recent discussion on X, the prominent blockchain developer expressed skepticism about the possibility of the $XRP Ledger becoming a major financial infrastructure platform without its native token benefiting from that success.

"I think a world where XRPL is highly successful in financial applications but $XRP does not have high demand and value is very unlikely," Schwartz wrote.

According to Schwartz, $XRP possesses several unique advantages within the network that could help drive its long-term demand.

For starters, $XRP is the only native, counterparty-free asset on the $XRP Ledger, meaning that it does not depend on any third-party issuer.

Moreover, $XRP is required to pay transaction fees and maintain account reserves on the network.

"All of those things can help drive value and demand," Schwartz explained.

His comments address a persistent debate within the $XRP community about whether the growing adoption of the $XRP Ledger necessarily translates into increased demand for $XRP itself.

$XRP could thrive even if Bitcoin dominates

Schwartz also outlined a hypothetical scenario in which Bitcoin becomes the dominant settlement asset, arguing that $XRP could still benefit from the $XRP Ledger's success.

"About the only way that could happen would be if we wound up in a world with one totally dominant settlement asset. That seems unlikely to me," he wrote, referring to a scenario in which XRPL succeeds without generating substantial demand for $XRP.

He went on to explain that even widespread Bitcoin adoption would not necessarily eliminate $XRP's role in facilitating transactions.

"For example, even if you imagine a world where nearly all settlement is done using bitcoin, if XRPL is successful, you will still probably have several versions of wrapped/bridged bitcoin on XRPL and $XRP will capture value bridging them."