David Schwartz says XRP could overtake Bitcoin

XRP could one day surpass Bitcoin in market capitalization, David Schwartz, the XRP Ledger architect and Ripple's CTO emeritus, said publicly this week.

During a recent X Spaces conversation, Schwartz was asked directly if a "flippening" was possible. "Yeah, I do," he responded, with an important caveat.

Angie asked "David in your humble opinion, do you believe XRP could actually flip Bitcoin?" — Vet (@Vet_X0) September 9, 2026

Why Schwartz Thinks Growth, Not Collapse, Could Do It

Schwartz said the scenario would not occur due to Bitcoin contracting. Instead, it would happen because XRP expands more quickly than Bitcoin.

He placed the scenario in the context of a wider digital-asset market expansion, contending that if the crypto space grows significantly, leading assets could all appreciate rather than just vying for a static pool of capital.

“But I think it wouldn’t happen from Bitcoin shrinking. It would happen from XRP growing faster than Bitcoin,” David Schwartz said.

He emphasized technical design advantages. The XRP Ledger was initially designed as a faster and more scalable payments network than Bitcoin, offering higher transaction speeds and features that Bitcoin's base layer lacks.

These features, according to Schwartz, could enable XRPL to draw users and capital interested in functions beyond basic store-of-value transfers.

Past events back the notion that XRP has previously narrowed significant gaps. In late 2017 and early 2018, XRP briefly held the second-largest market cap, overtaking Ethereum and reducing the gap to Bitcoin in that bull market.

The Math Behind a Bitcoin Flip Today

Schwartz has also mentioned selling some XRP around $0.10, as that price seemed extremely high compared to prior levels near $0.006, similar to how $100 Bitcoin once appeared unrealistic.

The current numerical disparity is still large. On September 10, Bitcoin traded at about $77,165, with a market capitalization of roughly $1.54 trillion. XRP traded near $1.35, with a market cap of around $85 billion, making Bitcoin approximately 18 times larger.

To match Bitcoin's current valuation would need XRP to trade at roughly $24.50, assuming Bitcoin's market cap stays constant and based on XRP's circulating supply of about 62.7 billion tokens. If Bitcoin continues to appreciate, the price required for a flip would increase correspondingly.

Schwartz did not portray the outcome as certain or near-term. His remarks represent a conditional possibility based on comparative technological advantages and broader market growth, not an anticipated Bitcoin crash.

Nevertheless, the comments have motivated portions of the XRP community, while also highlighting the considerable gap that still exists between the two cryptocurrencies today.