Former Ripple CTO David Schwartz believes XRP could eventually overtake Bitcoin in market capitalization, but such a scenario would require the token to grow faster than the leading cryptocurrency rather than Bitcoin losing value.
During an X Spaces discussion hosted by ILLY last week, a participant named Angie asked Schwartz whether he believed XRP could actually flip Bitcoin. Schwartz gave a straightforward response before explaining the conditions he thinks would make it possible.
“Yeah, I do. But I think it wouldn’t happen from Bitcoin shrinking. It would happen from XRP growing faster than Bitcoin,” Schwartz said.
Notably, the executive, who also helped design the XRP Ledger, did not attach a timeline or specific price target to the possibility. His argument instead centers on XRP gaining value at a faster rate as the overall cryptocurrency market expands.
Bitcoin’s market capitalization is around $1.55 trillion, accounting for 57.3% of the total cryptocurrency market, while XRP’s stands at approximately $87 billion. That leaves Bitcoin with a market value roughly 18 times larger than XRP’s.
 
If Bitcoin’s market cap remained unchanged, XRP would need to reach about $1.55 trillion to match it. With roughly 62.7 billion XRP in circulation, the calculation puts the token’s value at approximately $25 per coin.
However, that figure only works if Bitcoin remains at its current market capitalization. If BTC also rises, XRP would need to climb even higher to overtake it.
That distinction is important because the roughly $25 figure is a mathematical estimate based on current valuations, not a price target given by Schwartz.
Meanwhile, Schwartz’s scenario depends on XRP recording stronger growth than Bitcoin while the broader digital asset market becomes substantially larger.
The potential expansion of the XRP Ledger is central to that argument. The network supports applications involving payments, tokenization and other financial activity, giving XRP potential avenues for increased adoption.
Under this scenario, Bitcoin could continue appreciating while XRP gains market share at a faster pace. The two assets would not need to compete in a shrinking market for XRP to eventually close the gap.
That said, the proposed flip would be substantially different from a scenario where Bitcoin suffers a major collapse. XRP has previously come much closer to Bitcoin in terms of market capitalization.
Notably, during the 2018 crypto boom, XRP’s market cap climbed to roughly $130 billion to $150 billion, while Bitcoin’s stood around $250 billion to $260 billion. XRP therefore reached nearly half of Bitcoin’s valuation at the time.
The gap has since widened considerably. XRP currently represents only a fraction of Bitcoin’s market capitalization, meaning it would require sustained growth to reverse that difference.
At press time, XRP was trading at $1.49 reflecting a gain of 6.44% over the past 24 hours.
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