An XRP community pundit makes a case for an XRP price rally to an ambitious five-digit figure, citing possible catalysts.
Chad Steingraber, a game developer and prominent voice in the XRP community, outlined a vision for XRP’s potential to reach $20,000 per token. In his commentary, Steingraber highlighted several factors he believes could drive this dramatic price increase.
11 – This is where it gets interesting because the road to $20K #XRP involves PRIVACY.
They’ve been very clear and honest with us –> #XRP was never meant for public retail trading.
We were the pitchers in warm up practice before the game begins.
Ready for the Big Leagues?
— Chad Steingraber (@ChadSteingraber) August 18, 2022
XRP Deflationary Supply
Steingraber called attention to XRP’s capped supply of 100 billion tokens and its mildly deflationary design. For context, the XRP Ledger permanently burns a small amount of XRP with each transaction, steadily reducing the total supply, albeit at a slow rate.
5 – Now for those new to #XRP let’s establish some facts:
A limited supply of (less) 100BillionOn each ledger transaction, destroys or “Burns” a small portion of #XRP to validate its transfer (Deflationary)
Can issue any other asset on the Ledger (IOU’s)
— Chad Steingraber (@ChadSteingraber) August 18, 2022
He noted that much of the current circulating supply—now around 57 billion tokens—is available for public trading, but some of it has been permanently lost, further limiting accessibility. This shrinking supply, in addition to increased demand, could create conditions for a price surge, he argued.
XRP Institutional Adoption and Private Ledgers
One of Steingraber’s central claims is that XRP will become a reserve asset for banks, akin to gold. He suggested that financial institutions like Bank of America and JPMorgan could issue private digital currencies, such as BOAcoin or JPMorganCoin, on private XRP Ledgers.
These coins, possibly backed by XRP, would enable banks to conduct internal and cross-border transactions securely and privately, he said. According to Steingraber, this setup would ensure banks rely heavily on XRP while keeping transactions off public ledgers, creating a demand spike.
Steingraber also discussed the potential role of institutional liquidity providers (ILPs), which he described as intermediaries facilitating transactions between banks. He claimed these ILPs would hold large reserves of XRP and various bank-issued coins, enabling seamless exchanges without exposing counterparties to risk.
For instance, if Bank of America needs to transfer funds to JPMorgan, XRP would act as the intermediary currency, facilitating the transfer through ILPs.
Possible Supply Shock
Interestingly, Steingraber warned that banks could eventually deplete the public supply of XRP. He speculated that financial institutions and ILPs might engage in a digital “arms race” to acquire XRP, potentially leading to a frenzy of institutional buying.
21 – Think of it as a digital arms race where every bank, every IGLP will hoard #XRP to increase their balance sheets. The majority of #XRP escrowed at Ripple will never see the light of day. When they run out of OTC (Over the Counter) options, what’s next?
The Public Supply.
— Chad Steingraber (@ChadSteingraber) August 18, 2022
According to him, this could wipe out the public supply on exchanges within hours, leaving retail investors sidelined as prices soar.
Expanding his analysis, Steingraber pointed to the global financial system’s vast size, estimating the total U.S. dollar money supply at $40 trillion. Adding the global banking sector and derivatives market, he argued that demand for XRP could grow exponentially.
He suggested that the public supply might shrink to as low as 21 million tokens—similar to Bitcoin’s hard cap—further boosting its value. At press time, XRP trades for $2.35, needing an 850,963% increase to reach $20,000.
While Steingraber’s arguments are thought-provoking, they rest on several assumptions that warrant scrutiny. For one, banks adopting XRP as a reserve asset on a global scale would require widespread regulatory clarity and institutional trust in the technology.
