In a striking turn of events, the crypto community is abuzz with predictions that XRP could hit an astonishing $20,000 per coin someday, a far cry from its current value of around $2. This represents a 10,000-fold increase from its present valuation.
Reports indicate that this audacious prediction first emerged in 2022, when game developer and prominent XRP supporter, Chad Steingraber, proposed a strategy involving major banks and tokenized assets.
The bold forecast has recently resurfaced on social platform X, sparking renewed discussions on the potential future value of this digital token.
Steingraber believes the first step involves issuing stablecoins and central bank digital currencies on the XRP Ledger. He suggests that the introduction of new tokens on the platform would necessitate the use of XRP for transaction settlement, thereby boosting daily demand.
Currently, the XRP chain hosts only a few tokens, but Steingraber anticipates this number will surge into the hundreds. If even 100 new coins adopt XRP settlements, annual demand could increase by billions of dollars.
According to Steingraber, the second driver is banks treating XRP like a reserve asset. Financial institutions would not just trade it on public exchanges but store XRP in private ledgers to back their own digital currencies. Several institutions have already announced plans to include XRP in their reserve assets. If each firm holds hundreds of millions of dollars in XRP, it could significantly reduce the supply available in open markets.
Steingraber believes that if large institutions lock away most of the XRP tokens, the circulating supply could dip below 100 million. This could lead to a classic supply shock, and prices could escalate from mere cents to thousands of dollars in a matter of hours.
However, this prediction does not come without its hurdles. XRP is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and a negative outcome could deter deals and discourage banks. Additionally, XRP faces competition from rival chains like Ethereum and Solana that already host tokenized assets.
The $20,000 mark seems far-fetched and hangs on three big “ifs”: robust growth in tokenization, banks holding XRP as reserves, and a significant supply squeeze. Yet, the intriguing theory has captured the attention of XRP traders, who are now keenly observing legal filings and ledger activity.
