David Schwartz predicts XRP could overtake Bitcoin in market cap

David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO Emeritus and an original architect of the XRP Ledger, has stated that XRP could eventually overtake Bitcoin in market capitalization. Speaking during an X Spaces discussion, Schwartz clarified that such a “flippening” would likely result from XRP growing faster than Bitcoin rather than a collapse in Bitcoin’s value.

Schwartz attributed this potential growth to the technical advantages of the XRP Ledger, specifically its speed, scalability, and functionality for payments compared to Bitcoin’s base layer. He suggested that as the broader digital-asset market expands, XRP could capture a larger share due to its utility in cross-border payments and institutional adoption.

Mathematical analysis indicates that for XRP to match Bitcoin’s current market cap of approximately $1.58 trillion, the price per XRP would need to reach roughly $25, assuming the circulating supply remains around 62 billion tokens. This scenario assumes Bitcoin’s valuation remains static; if Bitcoin rises, the required price for XRP would increase accordingly.

Historically, XRP has shown significant momentum, briefly becoming the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap in late 2017 and early 2018. Additionally, Schwartz recently defended the XRP Ledger against claims that it is a “ghost chain,” arguing that its low transaction fees encourage a high volume of diverse usage.