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.

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.

The XRP price could soar to a new all-time high if XRP reclaimed just half of its peak market dominance at the current position of the global crypto market.

The cryptocurrency market has grown over the years, rising from just $4.28 billion a decade ago to the current size of $3.28 trillion. This indicates that the broader crypto market has grown by 76,528% over the last ten years, and most of the assets within the market have grown proportionally.

XRP Has Not Grown Proportionally with the Broader Market

However, not all the assets have grown as well as they should, especially considering their positions years back. One such crypto asset is XRP, which has been set back several years by regulatory issues that triggered a wave of delistings in the U.S., the largest destination for crypto investments.

Notably, a look back at historical data shows that XRP commanded its peak market dominance in May 2017, during the impressive price rally at the time. Specifically, by May 17, 2017, XRP’s market cap soared to $15.28 billion. This represented a market dominance of 31.33%, considering the broader crypto market cap stood at $48.78 billion at the time.

On May 17, 2017, Bitcoin had a market cap of around $29 billion, representing a market dominance of 59.45%. Since then, Bitcoin has only grown alongside the broader market, while XRP has not observed a similar growth. Bitcoin’s market cap now stands at $2.132 trillion, a 7,251% increase since May 2017.

Meanwhile, XRP currently has a market cap of $128.8 billion, marking an increase of just 743% from the May 2017 figures. As a result, while Bitcoin’s market dominance has increased to 65.75% at press time, XRP’s dominance is now 3.96%, a massive crash from the 31.33% peak in May 2017.

XRP Price at Half Its Peak Market Dominance

At this position, XRP trades for $2.18, a price at which many consider it massively undervalued. However, what if XRP maintained its 31.33% market dominance now that the crypto market has grown to $3.28 trillion? We recently considered this reality. However, we reduced the dominance by half for a more realistic estimate.

Notably, half of the 31.33% dominance stands at 15.665%. If XRP had a 15.665% market dominance with the broader market at $3.28 trillion, its market cap would sit at $513.8 billion. At this valuation, the price of XRP would rise to $8.7, considering the current circulating supply of 59 billion tokens.

Interestingly, CryptosRus founder George Tung suggested last month that XRP’s realistic target for the end of this year is $8 to $10. However, while the $8 target is a higher valuation for XRP, some community pundits like Xena have insisted that it’s not a major achievement.

Importantly, if instead of reaching half of its peak market dominance, XRP claimed the full figure, the price could reach higher levels. Specifically, XRP’s market cap would reach $1.027 trillion at a 31.33% market dominance, considering the current crypto cap of $3.28 trillion. At this valuation, the price of 1 XRP would hit $17.4.

Amid audacious projections that XRP has the potential to reach three-digit prices, opinions vary among leading market sources.

Several market watchers expect a major XRP price upsurge in the coming years, with some suggesting XRP could eventually climb into the $200 to $400 price range. This represents an ambitious leap that would require gains of between 9,850% and 19,800%.

To assess whether these price targets could realistically materialize, we asked multiple sources. We gathered projections from major AI models, including ChatGPT by OpenAI, Gemini by Google, and Grok AI by xAI.

XRP Price Predictions from ChatGPT and Google Gemini

According to ChatGPT, XRP could reach $200 within 7.3 years if it grows at a compound annual rate of 100%. At 150% growth per year, the timeframe shortens to around 5.2 years. Meanwhile, for XRP to hit $400, it estimates 8.9 years at 100% growth or about 6.3 years at 150%. 

ChatGPT based this projection on developments involving steady regulatory progress, institutional adoption, and expanding utility in the payments sector. 

It suggested that XRP could realistically climb to $200 between 2029 and 2031. Also, if growth continues and XRP captures roles in areas like CBDC liquidity and derivatives markets, the $400 level could materialize between 2032 and 2035.

Meanwhile, Google Gemini presented a more optimistic and ambitious forecast. It proposed that XRP could reach $200 as early as late 2026 or sometime in 2028, assuming some important developments fall into place. 

These developments include full regulatory clarity, the launch of spot XRP ETFs, and broad adoption by banks and financial networks for cross-border transfers. 

Also, for XRP to reach $400, Gemini projected a longer timeline, likely between 2028 and 2030. However, it stressed that this would only happen if XRP grows into a global clearing asset and gains a major position in central bank digital currency infrastructure.

XRP Price Predictions from Grok, Changelly, and Telegaon

In its response, Grok AI acknowledged that XRP would need to climb nearly 10,000% to reach $200, and almost 20,000% to hit $400. Grok linked this possibility to real-world use cases, especially XRP’s role in facilitating international payments.

It explained that prices could rise as more financial institutions adopt XRP, bolstering demand while the circulating supply remains limited. However, Grok noted that reaching these prices would demand a level of global adoption that has yet to be seen.

Grok also highlighted XRP’s price history, calling attention to its explosive rise from $0.02 to $3.84 in just over a year between 2017 and 2018. However, it warned that repeating such a run now would be much harder due to XRP’s larger market cap. 

Grok suggested that XRP might reach $200 between 2030 and 2032 if it captures a sizable share of the $5 trillion global remittance market. Nonetheless, reaching $400 could take until 2035–2040, and would likely require XRP to replace or compete directly with major global payment systems like SWIFT.

We also assessed predictions from crypto platforms Changelly and Telegaon. Analysts at Changelly believe XRP could reach a price between $200 to $400 in 2040. Specifically, they believe XRP could reach a maximum price of $222 in January 2040 and then claim a minimum price of $408 a few months later, in March 2040.

Meanwhile, Telegaon does not even expect XRP to claim $200 in 2040. They believe it would take 10 more years, predicting that XRP could trade at a minimum price of $236 in 2050. However, they expect the maximum price in 2050 to be $285, with no provision for a timeline for reaching $400.

Altan Tutar, co-founder of MoreMarkets and former engineer at the NEAR Foundation, recently shared his experience with the XRP community and the ambitious price predictions many within it hold.

He highlighted the strength of the XRP Army and the community-driven belief that XRP could one day reach the $10,000 mark. His comments came during an episode of The Rollup podcast.

After immersing himself in XRP-focused YouTube channels and attending the XRP Las Vegas event, Tutar remarked on the intense conviction of XRP holders. He noted how many firmly believe that XRP could eventually climb to $10,000.

“There are people who almost believe in it like a religion,” Tutar said. “It’s an amazing marketing machine… I’ve never seen anything like this in any other community.”

“Bitcoin Hit $100K, So Why Not XRP?”

Meanwhile, podcast host Andy dismissed the $10,000 price prediction as a fantasy, stating, “XRP is not going to $10,000.” In his view, it’s unlikely to even reach $100, adding that $10 is already a stretch for XRP.

This skepticism reflects a broader market sentiment. XRP has struggled to break past its all-time high for nearly eight years, making the notion of it reaching $100, let alone $10,000, highly questionable.

Tutar did not confirm the $10,000 prediction himself but defended the internal logic of such beliefs within the community. He explained that just as Bitcoin’s meteoric rise once seemed improbable, XRP supporters now believe their asset can also defy expectations.

“Bitcoin went to $100K,” he said, highlighting the common rationale within the community. “So why not XRP?”

Notably, with Bitcoin currently trading at $107,000, it has risen by an astounding 220,138,673% from its bottom 15 years ago. By comparison, XRP, on the market for nearly as long, has risen just 74,605% from its lowest price to its current value of $2.09. From here, XRP would need to surge another 478,368% to reach the lofty $10,000 price target.

Given this enormous leap and the resulting market cap implications, many critics have dismissed the $10,000 prediction as pure fantasy. Yet, Bitcoin’s historical trajectory continues to fuel the optimism of many XRP proponents.

No Yield, Just Conviction

Tutar also pointed out that XRP differs from many other tokens in a major way. For one, it does not offer staking or yield rewards. He explained that this shapes the behavior of its holders, who aren’t drawn by the potential for passive income.

“You’re not earning yields,” he said. “It’s the belief in the community that at some point it will [explode in value].”

This loyalty has influenced MoreMarkets’ own strategy. According to Tutar, the company plans to start by engaging with the XRP ecosystem before expanding to other under-activated assets like Stellar (XLM) and NEAR.

Indeed, the XRP community has long been known for its resilience, especially during Ripple’s legal battles with the U.S. SEC. For Tutar, this strength represents more than just hype; it’s a force that platforms like MoreMarkets can harness for broader adoption and innovation.

“We talk to them quite often,” he said. “We do a bunch of marketing with XRP Key Opinion Leaders.”