Ripple veteran tempers XRP hope: ‘There's no secret plan’
While many investors in XRP hoped for a secret plan with the token, it turns out that it is not there. What does that mean for the future of the currency?
Frustrated XRP investors should not expect a hidden strategy from Ripple that will suddenly send the price up. That's what David Schwartz, former CTO of Ripple, says.
According to him, the XRP price is mainly determined by the broader crypto market and developments around Ripple and the XRP Ledger only play a smaller role.
At X, a user asked Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Schwartz to clarify “the real plan” for XRP.
Schwartz reacted remarkably immediately. According to him, Ripple is constantly communicating about its strategy and there is no secret plan that is being withheld.
That message comes at a sensitive time. XRP trades around $1.06 and lost more than half of its value in the past year.
Investors are therefore wondering why the price is not benefiting more from Ripple's expansion. Schwartz says that XRP is mainly "carried away by the market".
Even if Ripple connects more banks worldwide, the XRP Ledger grows and RLUSD gains ground, that does not automatically mean that XRP rises immediately.
However, Schwartz acknowledges that a higher XRP price has advantages. A higher price can make liquidity more efficient and reduce slippage on large trades.
Schwartz still believes that XRP can extract value from a successful XRP Ledger. He points out that XRP has a special position within the network, as it is the only asset that can be held without a counterparty.
According to him, it is therefore difficult to imagine the XRP Ledger becoming large without XRP eventually absorbing a substantial part of that value.
Meanwhile, Ripple continues to grow in Europe. BBVA and DZ BANK use Ripple Custody, while a consortium of 37 European banks is working on a euro stablecoin. So there is certainly institutional growth for Ripple.