XRP Can Flip Bitcoin, Says Schwartz, But $1.49 Trillion Stands In Way

Ester Shlain
Ester Shlainpage_time_hourAgo
Schwartz's XRP flippening prediction runs into a $1.49 trillion market value gap with Bitcoin. (Image: Shutterstock)
Schwartz's XRP flippening prediction runs into a $1.49 trillion market value gap with Bitcoin. (Image: Shutterstock)

Ripple CTO emeritus David Schwartz said XRP (xrp) can eventually pass Bitcoin (btc) by market value, a flip that would mean closing a $1.49 trillion gap.

Key Points:

  • Schwartz said an XRP flippening would come from XRP rising faster, not from Bitcoin collapsing.
  • Bitcoin is worth roughly 17.7 times more than XRP, and matching it would put XRP near $25.10.
  • XRP funds took in $1.55 million on Sept. 8, the only U.S. crypto ETFs with positive flows that day.

Schwartz Backs XRP Flippening Case

A participant in an X Spaces discussion asked Schwartz whether he truly believed XRP could overtake Bitcoin, and he answered yes. He then attached a condition to it.

"It would happen from XRP growing faster than Bitcoin," Schwartz said. He argued that the digital asset market will keep expanding for years, letting the largest tokens climb together rather than fight over a fixed pool of investor money. The XRP Ledger, he said, should capture more of that growth because it settles faster and supports payment features Bitcoin cannot.

Schwartz, who helped design the XRP Ledger in 2012 and left the chief technology job at Ripple last year, called the outcome likelier than not without setting a timeline.

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XRP Math Points To $25

Bitcoin carries a market capitalization near $1.58 trillion, while XRP sits close to $89 billion, leaving the older asset roughly 17.7 times larger. With about 62.74 billion tokens in circulation, XRP would have to reach about $25.10 to match Bitcoin at current valuations, and any Bitcoin rally would push that bar higher still.

Regulated XRP products have meanwhile drawn steadier money than their peers, with spot XRP ETFs pulling in $1.55 million on Sept. 8, the only U.S. crypto funds in positive territory that session. Bitcoin funds lost $46.65 million, Ethereum (eth) funds shed $24.29 million and Solana (sol) funds gave up $667,000, while the total crypto market capitalization slipped 0.33%. Bitcoin itself fell 0.81% that day.

Schwartz Revisits XRP Price History

XRP has narrowed the gap before, though it now ranks fifth by market value. Its capitalization reached roughly $92.6 billion on Jan. 1, 2018, about 40% of Bitcoin's total at the time, when it ranked second among all cryptocurrencies.

Schwartz has returned to the theme of disbelief more than once this year. He recalled that a climb to $0.25 struck him as implausible when XRP traded near $0.006, and he sold part of his holdings around $0.10 because the price already looked stretched. XRP now starts from a far larger base than Bitcoin did then.

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Ester Shlain

Business Analyst at Yellow, covering trading mechanics, agentic infrastructure, and market research on the crypto exchange stack. Seven years in web3 across DAO platforms, launchpads, and tokenomics design. Writes for people who want the numbers behind the narrative.

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