Top Developer Explains XRP Path to $20,000

XRP commentators Xena and Chad Steingraber have reignited the controversial discussion about XRP potentially reaching as high as $20,000 per coin.

The coin currently trades around $2, but the ambitious theory speculates a future where XRP’s price could increase by 10,000 times from its current level. Fueling this perspective are several factors that, according to proponents, could drive XRP toward that lofty price point.

Notably, the “XRP to $20,000” theory originally surfaced in 2022. Game developer and long-time XRP advocate Chad Steingraber first presented the idea. He outlined a detailed roadmap for how XRP could reach five-figure valuations, not through retail hype, but through institutional adoption and utility-driven scarcity.

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Revisiting the theory today on X, Steingraber confirmed that the theory remains intact and increasingly relevant in the current climate. “This is how it will,” he emphasized, outlining the three major components that form the backbone of the prediction.

It consists of three components:

1 – Assets built on the XRP Ledger (Stablecoins are the “utility”)
2 – XRP becomes a reserve asset to power the utility
3 – XRP is removed from public supply by institutions

This is how IT WILL. 😉 https://t.co/d7ysY5euXc

— Chad Steingraber (@ChadSteingraber) June 28, 2025

The Three Core Drivers Behind the $20K Target

According to Steingraber, XRP’s path to $20,000 relies on three interconnected developments:

1. Tokenized Assets on the XRP Ledger:

As stablecoins and CBDCs are issued on the XRP Ledger, XRP serves as the underlying utility asset. These tokenized assets would create new demand for XRP-backed settlements.

2. XRP Becomes a Reserve Asset:

Rather than being used like it is today by retail traders, banks, and financial institutions would hold XRP as a reserve asset, similar to how they treat gold, to back internal digital currencies. Indeed, many institutions have announced plans to include XRP in their reserve holdings.

3. Institutional Absorption of Public Supply:

Steingraber’s theory also suggests that, over time, institutions will permanently remove XRP from public circulation. He expects they will lock it into private ledgers, significantly reducing the available supply on open markets.

Public Retail as a Pre-Game Warm-Up

Notably, Steingraber argues that today’s public XRP trading is merely a warm-up, with banks and enterprise players waiting in the wings. He claims that large institutions are unlikely to rely on public exchanges like Binance or Kraken due to concerns over privacy and counterparty risk.

Instead, they will operate on private ledgers backed by XRP, using institutional-grade liquidity providers to facilitate value transfers.

In his scenario, banks would not move XRP externally. Instead, they would hold it to back internal assets and settle transactions via trusted intermediaries.

Supply Shock and Institutional FOMO

Meanwhile, one of the boldest elements of Steingraber’s theory is the prediction of a supply shock triggered by institutional FOMO. With much of XRP already lost, locked, or burned, he estimates that only around 20 billion tokens remain accessible to the public.

In his view, once institutions begin aggressively acquiring XRP, the circulating supply could drop to under 100 million, or even less.

He envisions a scenario where large institutions simultaneously enter the market, sweeping through public order books and driving prices from mere cents to thousands of dollars within hours. According to him, this would not be for speculative profit, but to power trillions in daily financial operations.

Global Banking and the XRP Race

Steingraber concludes his theory by broadening the scope. He argues that it won’t just be U.S. banks competing for XRP, but also global institutions, sovereign wealth funds, and even billionaires seeking exposure to a utility-based digital asset. 

He sees XRP as the backbone of a new financial infrastructure, and such is too critical for its price to remain undervalued for long.

Ultimately, the idea of a $20,000 XRP remains controversial. The theory does not account for the stiff competition within the crypto space. It envisions a future where XRP is the asset of choice for financial institutions, but several other cryptocurrencies also serve similar purposes.