Former Ripple CTO Says the Higher the XRP Price, the Better. Here’s why

David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO Emeritus, recently made a clear statement on X about XRP’s price and its relationship to the asset’s utility.

“The higher the price, the better,” he said. “A higher price would tend to mean liquidity is more cost-effective and slippage is less.”

This was not a speculative remark. It came directly from a question about how XRP functions as a bridge asset on the ledger.

The higher the price, the better. A higher price would tend to mean liquidity is more cost-effective and slippage is less.

— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) November 9, 2026

XRP’s Role on the Ledger

The exchange began when a community member raised a concern about XRP’s price movement. The user questioned why XRP had not moved significantly in price if Ripple was expanding its reach globally through RippleNet and its stablecoin, RLUSD.

Ripple’s executives have faced significant criticism in recent weeks as XRP’s price failed to rise despite major announcements like the final approval of Ripple National Trust Bank. One major concern is that demand should have pushed XRP’s price higher if the asset was being used to move money across the ledger.

Schwartz responded by explaining that XRP’s price is “largely dragged around by the market” and only secondarily influenced by developments specific to XRP. He acknowledged this was his read on the situation, but said it felt consistent with the evidence available to him.

Why Slippage Is Central to This

The follow-up question from the same community member brought the conversation to its most informative point. The user asked whether a higher price would be necessary for XRP to handle large transaction volumes on the ledger without liquidity constraints.

Schwartz confirmed it would. His answer tied XRP’s price directly to its efficiency as a payment asset. Slippage refers to the difference between the expected price of a transaction and the price at which it executes. When liquidity is thin, slippage increases and transactions become more expensive.

A higher XRP price increases the value of available liquidity pools without requiring more tokens. This makes it cheaper and more efficient to move large sums across the ledger.

XRP As a Utility Asset

XRP was designed to serve as a bridge currency. It allows value to move between two parties who do not share a common currency or financial relationship. For this to work at scale, the asset needs deep liquidity. The deeper the liquidity, the tighter the spreads, and the lower the cost of a transaction.

Schwartz’s statement confirms that price appreciation is not separate from XRP’s utility. However, many still wonder why XRP’s price has not exploded if it serves this function. The XRP community has long argued that the asset is undervalued relative to its use case. Schwartz’s remarks give that argument a technical foundation.