Ripple CTO Maintains XRP Cannot be Dirt Cheap, Says No Deviation Yet

Ripple CTO David Schwartz says there is no deviation from the idea that XRP cannot remain dirt cheap, as it implies higher liquidity and more efficient payments.

The low price of XRP continues to be a hot subject in the crypto scene, attracting commentaries from Ripple’s CTO and other industry pundits. Recently, XRP’s price crashed to the $0.39 region, a 16-month low, following the broader market’s unyielding bleeding trend.

Meanwhile, as of last month, XRP traded above $0.53. With XRP retreating below $0.4 on June 5, a community member recalled Schwartz’s 2017 statement asserting that XRP cannot be “dirt cheap.”

Notably, at the time the Ripple CTO expressed this view, XRP was amid the initial stages of a bull frenzy that culminated in an all-time high of $3.84 a few weeks later. However, today, XRP has lost about 90% of that value.

As a result, a member of the community recently asked Schwartz for an updated perspective on his past comment that suggested XRP couldn’t stay low-priced. Instead of addressing XRP’s current value, Schwartz reiterated the essence of his original statement. In particle, he emphasized that it costs $1 to buy sufficient XRP tokens to make a $1 payment.

However, some community members seeking a direct response to XRP’s low price challenged Schwartz, accusing him of deviating from the main issue. 

Ripple CTO Says No Deviation Yet

In response, Schwartz insisted his statement had not deviated, explaining that his original point remains valid. 

It does not deviate. It expresses precisely the same idea.

— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) July 7, 2024

Notably, in the 2017 commentary, he illustrated that if XRP costs $1, an entity would need a million XRP to make a $1 million payment. Similarly, if XRP were priced at a million dollars, they would need just one XRP for the same $1 million payment. 

Meanwhile, Schwartz highlighted that higher prices facilitate cheaper payments due to sufficient market liquidity, requiring fewer tokens for transactions. On the other hand, lower prices would necessitate more coins, posing a challenge as it could impact the market.

Essentially, the Ripple executive stressed that this idea had not deviated, which was the foundation of his statement that XRP cannot remain dirt cheap. In a separate discussion on Reddit six years ago, Schwartz explicitly mentioned that higher XRP prices usually align with increased liquidity, resulting in more affordable payments.