Amid Ripple's recent acquisitions and regulatory wins, discussions have resurfaced about whether the company truly centers its strategy on XRP. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has reaffirmed XRP's central role, prompting analyst Digital Asset Investor to consult AI chatbot Grok for price projections under a focused scenario. Grok outlined how Ripple's developments could drive XRP's value higher through enhanced utility.
Ripple has pursued aggressive expansion, completing acquisitions of GTreasury, Metaco, and Hidden Road, while launching its RLUSD stablecoin and obtaining conditional approval for a national trust bank charter. These moves have sparked debate, with critics suggesting a shift away from XRP toward enterprise tools. However, Garlinghouse recently emphasized that "XRP remains central to Ripple’s long-term strategy."
To explore the implications, Digital Asset Investor queried Grok on XRP's potential if Ripple fully committed to elevating the token as a global reserve asset. Grok analyzed Ripple's decade-long efforts to position XRP as a liquidity bridge, leveraging the XRP Ledger's advantages: fast settlement times, low costs, and energy efficiency. This foundation has drawn banks and payment providers globally.
Ripple's On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product integrates XRP into cross-border payments, bypassing traditional nostro and vostro accounts that immobilize about $27 trillion worldwide. By 2024, ODL facilitated over $30 billion in annual transactions, mainly in Asia-Pacific and Latin America, generating steady demand for XRP in real-time settlements.
Grok highlighted past performance, noting XRP's market cap reached around $200 billion, peaking at $216 billion in July 2025 when its price hit $3.66. Acquisitions like the $1.25 billion purchase of Hidden Road—which clears $3 trillion yearly—could extend XRP's use to crypto-to-fiat bridges for hedge funds. Similarly, GTreasury's integration might unlock $1.5 trillion in idle corporate capital via XRP in treasury operations.
Regulatory progress, including the trust bank charter, would enable nationwide custody and settlement services, attracting cautious institutions and spurring inflows. Grok projected that by 2026, tenfold volume growth could push XRP above $5. Between 2027 and 2028, sovereign adoption and ETF assets in tens of billions might drive it past $20. In an optimistic case, embedding XRP in global settlements, central bank networks, and trade finance—given its 100 billion token supply—could support even greater valuations over time.
