While XRP has maintained a position within the broader crypto market, some believe this has limited its image and, by extension, pricing.
This model was presented by Rob Cunningham, host of the KUWL Show, who challenged how people think about XRP’s price. He argued that XRP’s valuation has little to do with typical crypto discussions.
Notably, the pundit insisted that it was a balance-sheet and liquidity issue. According to him, once institutions stop comparing XRP to Bitcoin and start using it as financial infrastructure, its pricing logic would change completely.
Cunningham explained that XRP would take on a different role when institutions treat it as financial plumbing. In that role, XRP could act as neutral collateral and provide certainty in settlement, instead of acting as a speculative asset. He suggested that this could move XRP into the category of globally important liquidity.
The market pundit highlighted comments from Ripple CTO, David Schwartz, to support this idea. Specifically, Schwartz has long said that XRP must trade at a higher price to work efficiently as a cross-border settlement token.
For context, a higher price allows large amounts of value to move using fewer tokens, which reduces friction in global payments. According to Cunningham, this is a design requirement, not a price prediction.
Cunningham then shared a graphic that presents a model linking transaction flow, liquidity needs, and the XRP price. It shows that processing large volumes does not directly set XRP’s price. Instead, price rises or falls based on how much XRP institutions must hold to settle payments smoothly and reliably.
Notably, the model assumes that XRP-related systems capture 15% of Swift’s annual transaction flow of $150 trillion, equal to roughly $22.5 trillion. Of this amount, the model assumes that 25% actually settles using XRP itself. This results in about $5.6 trillion in annual settlement volume handled by XRP.
Meanwhile, the second section of the graphic focuses on liquidity requirements. Based on $5.6 trillion in annual settlements, the model assumes XRP circulates between 6 and 12x per year. This reuse rate produces an estimated base liquidity need of about $140 billion.
To account for risk management, the model then applies a buffer of 2 to 5x, raising the total required XRP liquidity to a range between $280 billion and $700 billion. Per the graphic, institutions would hold this XRP on balance sheets rather than trade it. This would ensure there are stable corridors, low volatility, and instant settlement.
The final section then translates these liquidity figures into price ranges. Specifically, in a basic settlement role, XRP prices fall between $2.50 and $7.50. In a broader scenario where XRP becomes a systemic liquidity asset, required liquidity ranges from $100 billion to $700 billion, with prices spanning $10 to $200.
Meanwhile, in the most ambitious case, XRP acts as a reserve or treasury asset. Within this scenario, the prices could reach $50 to $100 or higher as institutions accumulate XRP to absorb global payment flows.
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