Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse discussed the potential of the XRP Ledger in the financial landscape at the XRPL Apex event in Singapore.
Potential of XRP Ledger Against SWIFT
At the panel, a journalist asked Garlinghouse and Ripple's CTO David Schwartz about how much of SWIFT's global transaction volume the XRPL could realistically support by 2030. Garlinghouse responded by clarifying that SWIFT operates primarily as a messaging system, and that XRP's relevance lies in its capacity to provide on-demand liquidity. He projected that the XRPL could eventually facilitate 14% of SWIFT's liquidity-based transaction volume.
Impact of Transaction Volume on XRP Price
Garlinghouse mentioned that SWIFT is commonly cited as moving $5 trillion daily, but this figure refers to message traffic rather than the value of settled transactions. A more conservative figure published by Forbes estimates SWIFT's actual annual transaction volume closer to $150 trillion. Applying Garlinghouse's 14% estimate to that figure, the XRPL would process approximately $21 trillion annually. Considering XRP's price of $2.24 at the time and a circulating supply of 58.81 billion tokens, the fully diluted valuation would be around $224 billion.
Additional Factors Influencing XRP Valuation
Beyond its utility, other dynamics can influence XRP's price, including institutional adoption and investor sentiment. Should speculative interest raise the token's market cap to 1.5 times the required liquidity level, the token's price could rise to around $17.85. If the market valuation were to double the base liquidity estimate, the price per XRP could reach approximately $23.81. It's important to note these projections rest on several conditions, including XRP remaining the core asset for transactions on the XRPL.
If Ripple's forecasts hold true and the XRPL becomes a major player in global liquidity, XRP could experience significant appreciation in its value.
