Ripple CTO David Schwartz Explains Why XRP Could Gain Value as XRPL Adoption Grows

Ripple CTO emeritus David Schwartz has argued that rising adoption of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) could translate into stronger demand for XRP, pointing to the token’s role in liquidity, trading, and network transactions.

In an October 23 exchange on X, Schwartz challenged the idea that the ledger could become a major financial platform without its native asset gaining meaningful demand.

“The thesis is this: Low fees and reliable operation make XRPL a great place to move and hold value. That drives value flow to XRPL. XRP captures some of that value because of its unique advantages over other assets on XRPL,” Schwartz wrote.

He further noted that XRP has several advantages that could help it benefit as more financial activity moves onto the network. These include its role as a liquidity bridge between assets, its availability to accounts without counterparty risk, and its use to pay transaction fees.

“I think that’s one example of the mechanism I’m talking about. XRP has other advantages on XRPL too. It’s the only counterparty-free asset that any account can accept. People have to hold it to pay fees. All of those things can help drive value and demand,” he added.

Notably, the ledger’s built-in decentralized exchange can route trades through XRP when doing so offers a better exchange rate than trading two assets directly. If XRPL supports more markets and tokenized assets, XRP could therefore see greater use in connecting liquidity across those markets.

Schwartz said a scenario in which XRPL becomes highly successful in financial applications while XRP fails to attract strong demand is “very unlikely.” He acknowledged that a world dominated by a single settlement asset could produce a different outcome, but said he considers that possibility unlikely.

He also gave a hypothetical example involving Bitcoin. According to him, even if Bitcoin became the dominant settlement asset, wrapped or bridged versions of BTC could still trade on XRPL, creating opportunities for XRP to facilitate exchanges.

That said, on-chain data also offer another measure of adoption. Santiment reported last Thursday that the XRP Ledger had reached a record 8.24 million non-empty wallets, while daily wallet creation climbed to 4,772, its fifth-largest spike since March. This suggests that participation on XRPL has continued despite price volatility, which could generate sustained upward pressure on XRP.

Moreover, the firm identified $1.40 as an important level to watch, with a sustained move above it potentially opening the way toward $1.50 if wallet growth remains strong. Conversely, it warned that a drop below $1.30 alongside slower wallet creation would weaken the short-term adoption signal.

Some analysts have offered substantially more bullish price projections. Recently, Egrag Crypto said XRP appeared positioned to extend toward a macro target above $15, citing a chart pattern based on previous periods of price compression and breakout.

At press time, XRP was trading at $1.31, up 2.91% in the past 24 hours.