XRP is at the center of a new, high-profile debate this week. The token has become a regular name in crypto discussions, from its flat price movement and ETF launch delays to more positive updates like Ripple’s recent $11 billion institutional win. But this week, a new discussion has caught fire online — one that questions the very core of XRP’s value.
Related: XRP Traders Parse Ripple Swell 2025 Schedule for Market-Moving Announcements
Analyst Scott Melker asked a question that many XRP holders might have quietly thought about. He wanted to know what the real pitch for XRP is today; not for Ripple the company but for the token itself.
I say this with no disrespect, looking for an actual answer.
What is the current pitch for $XRP? The token, not Ripple the company.
Western Union chose Solana for their stablecoin. Swift went with Linea on ETH, which was the selling point I heard for years?
Stablecoins have…
The reason to doubt XRP’s real-word utility, Melker pointed out, was that Western Union chose Solana to launch its stablecoin, while Swift opted for Linea on Ethereum.
For years, XRP’s selling point was cross-border payments, but now stablecoins seem to have taken over that space. So, what is XRP’s role in the current crypto market context?
Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, stepped in with a detailed response. He explained that XRP still holds a special place in the blockchain world because it allows users to be their own bank without middlemen taking a cut of their transactions.
“I do think XRP’s special place on XRPL ensures that XRP will capture some of the value XRPL transactions generate,” he said
According to Schwartz, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) was built to let XRP serve as the bridge asset for global transactions. It is the only digital asset that every account on the ledger can access, regardless of jurisdiction, and it carries no risk of default, freezing, or clawback. This, he said, gives XRP a unique form of reliability that centralized payment systems and some stablecoins cannot match.
Melker, however, pushed the discussion further. He asked how much of XRP’s current value comes from real adoption compared to future expectations.
Schwartz’s response was candid. He admitted that most cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, derive much of their value from expected future speculation rather than immediate utility. He pointed out that Bitcoin’s main thesis today is built on what might happen if corporations and institutions start holding it, not necessarily on its day-to-day usage.
In other words, much of crypto’s value still depends on what people believe will happen, not what has already happened.
Related: XRP is entering November, historically its second-best month
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