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.
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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."