Why XRP ‘Can’t Be Dirt Cheap’: Ripple CTO Revives 2017 Argument Amid Price Calls

• Ripple CTO reiterated a 2017 argument on Monday, saying total payment cost remained the same regardless of token price.
• A Standard Chartered analyst, Geoffrey Kendrick, reportedly predicted XRP could reach $28 by 2030.
• Ripple traded over $1 on Monday, and a $28 price level by 2030 would mean XRP would need to increase by over 2700% in 5 years.

Ripple CTO David Schwartz said on Monday that a higher price for the Ripple token (XRP) would make it more efficient for payments.

Responding to a user on X, Schwartz explained that as XRP’s price rises, fewer tokens are needed to transfer the same amount of value, making payments more efficient. He added that the total cost of a transaction remains unchanged regardless of the token’s unit price.

The comments clarified a point Schwartz first made in 2017, when he argued that XRP does not need to be low-priced to be useful, since the same value can be transferred by adjusting the number of tokens used.

Standard Chartered Analyst Sees Long-Term Gains

Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, Geoffrey Kendrick, reportedly maintained a long-term bullish outlook on XRP. Currently, XRP is trading at $1.35, up 1.2% over the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around XRP remained in the ‘bearish’ territory, as chatter levels around it remained ‘low’ over the past day. 

Kendrick projected XRP could reach $28 by 2030, despite cutting his 2026 price target earlier this year following a broader market downturn. For XRP’s price to match Kendrick’s prediction, the token would need to increase by over 2700% over 5 years. Standard Chartered lowered its XRP target for 2026 by 65%, from $8 to $2.80, after XRP dropped to $1.16 in February.

The revised outlook suggested near-term performance would remain tied to macro conditions, while longer-term targets depend on factors such as regulatory clarity and sustained institutional adoption.

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