XRP Can Flip Bitcoin, Ex-Ripple CTO Schwartz Says: Here’s What He Didn’t Say
Ripple Chief Technology Officer Emeritus David Schwartz said XRP could eventually overtake bitcoin by market capitalization, a reversal that would require XRP to trade near $24.70, roughly 18 times its current price of $1.34.
Key Takeaways
- Schwartz said earlier this week that XRP could pass bitcoin, but gave no price target or timeline.
- XRP would need about $24.70 to match bitcoin’s $1.55 trillion cap, an 18-fold move from $1.34.
- The XRPL fixCleanup3_3_0 amendment reached 82.6% validator support, with activation due Sept. 11.
What Was Said Exactly
During an X Spaces discussion the day before yesterday, Schwartz was asked whether he believed XRP could one day flip bitcoin by market capitalization. Schwartz, an original architect of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) who stepped back from day-to-day duties at Ripple at the end of 2025, answered without hedging:
Yeah, I do. I think it would happen from XRP growing faster than Bitcoin.
He noted that the scenario would most likely emerge as part of a broader crypto market expansion rather than one asset cannibalizing another. “The world where digital assets are just wildly successful. They all probably grow,” he added.
The comment was a personal view rather than an official Ripple forecast, and it carried neither a valuation target nor a date.
The Math And What Comes Next
As of today, bitcoin’s market capitalization stands near $1.55 trillion, with BTC trading around $77,269. On the other hand, XRP changes hands at $1.34, giving it a market value of roughly $85 billion (about 18 times smaller).
Measured against XRP’s circulating supply of 62.88 billion tokens, matching bitcoin’s current market capitalization would put XRP somewhere near $24.70.
Also, it bears mentioning that over the last couple of days, posts were circulating that Schwartz had confirmed a multi-trillion target for XRP’s total cap in the mid-to-long term, a claim that was later identified as being entirely false.
That said, two verifiable events sit immediately ahead for the Ripple ecosystem at large, and neither depends on the flippening debate:
- On the technical side, the XRPL fixCleanup3_3_0 amendment has reached 82.6% validator support, with 31 of 35 votes recorded and the earliest activation window opening Sept. 11. Its scope is narrow, i.e. activation does not switch on the Lending Protocol, Single Asset Vaults, batch transactions, or confidential transfers, despite claims to the contrary.
- On the regulatory side, the U.S. Senate is scheduled to take up H.R. 3633 on Sept. 15. That vote is a cloture motion (a procedural step on whether to proceed to the bill) rather than final passage, making it the next checkpoint for digital asset market structure rather than a settled outcome.
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