XRP Could Overtake Bitcoin in Market Cap, But Numbers Say Otherwise

Ripple's former CTO, David Schwartz, has sparked debate in the crypto community by suggesting that XRP could potentially surpass Bitcoin in market capitalization. While this idea excites some XRP supporters, a closer look at the numbers reveals that such a flipping would require significant growth and adoption for XRP.

Schwartz made his comments during an X Spaces discussion on September 9th, where he stated that XRP could eventually overtake Bitcoin if it grows faster than its rival. He emphasized that this scenario relies on the assumption that the broader digital asset market will continue to expand.

The key difference between Schwartz's view and a simple prediction of Bitcoin's collapse is that XRP would need to capture a larger share of the market through its speed, transaction capacity, and payments-focused use cases. This scenario is not unlike what occurred in early 2018, when XRP briefly became the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

However, despite this brief period of success, XRP's current market value stands at just over 5.6% of Bitcoin's. With a market cap of approximately $1.54 trillion for Bitcoin and around $86.8 billion for XRP, the gap is substantial. To match Bitcoin's valuation, XRP would need to trade near $24.60, assuming Bitcoin's price remains unchanged.

Schwartz's comments are seen as a long-term possibility rather than an imminent forecast, requiring stronger institutional demand, wider network usage, and sustained market expansion for XRP to flip Bitcoin. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $77,250, while XRP was at $1.35.