Analysts are discussing the XRP Ledger (XRPL), with backers hailing it as a battle-tested backbone for the future of cross-border payments.
Meanwhile, critics say it is a dangerously overvalued bet on unrealized potential.
Is XRP Ledger Ready for Global Scale or Overvalued? Analysts Debate
Standing among the XRP Ledger advocates, Ripple CTO David Schwartz outlined why he believes XRPL is uniquely positioned to serve as critical infrastructure for the world’s financial system.
In a detailed thread, Schwartz emphasized that XRPL is resilient and interoperable in seamlessly connecting assets, markets, and participants across borders. He said this comes after more than 13 years of upgrades, institutional adoption, and live network stress-testing.
The Ripple executive contrasted XRPL’s public, permissionless design (with optional permissioned features for regulated environments) against closed, centralized blockchains.
Based on this, Schwartz argues that open infrastructure offers broader reach and adaptability. He also noted XRPL’s low, predictable transaction costs—only fractions of a cent paid in XRP—and its use of deterministic finality and consensus mechanisms, which are now being adopted by newer chains.
“The crypto tent is only getting bigger… [upcoming innovations will bring] more programmability, compliance-grade capabilities, and deeper liquidity for institutional use,” Schwartz wrote.
XRP’s $190 Billion Valuation Faces Reality Check as On-Chain Metrics Lag
Yet while Ripple’s CTO paints a picture of inevitable global relevance, the hard numbers tell a more sobering story.
Over the past 30 days, XRPL’s transaction count has fallen from 2.59 million to 1.59 million, representing a 38% drop.
Payments processed on the network fell almost 50%, from 1.5 million to 835,000. This undermines expectations that on-chain usage would rise alongside XRP’s recent price surge.
Elsewhere, data on DefiLlama shows XRPL’s total value locked (TVL) stands at just $90.57 million. Meanwhile, app revenue is in the $200 to $300 range, with app fees totaling $1,367.
This leaves the network with a staggering market cap-to-TVL ratio of 2,200x, far higher than most major chains.
Investment analyst Tyler Hill warned that the disparity between XRP’s $190 billion market cap and its $87.7 million TVL signals extreme speculation.
“RSI shows bearish divergence → potential drop to $2.32. Speculation is sky-high, but will on-chain growth catch up before price cools off?” Hill wrote on X.
Kolyan Trend, an influencer and market watcher, echoed the concern, calling the ratio a sign that traders are betting heavily on future upside.
However, they questioned whether the current valuation reflects real-world utility or just hype.
XRP has surged nearly 600% since November and is now trading at $3.30. Still, the gap between price and on-chain fundamentals has widened.
For bullish investors, XRPL’s long history, payment efficiency, and institutional-ready architecture justify the optimism.
On the other hand, skeptics see the falling transaction volumes and tiny DeFi footprint as evidence that the network’s promised global scale is still a distant goal.
Until adoption catches up with valuation and before speculative momentum runs out, whether the XRP Ledger is on the cusp of fulfilling its role as a financial backbone or about to face a painful correction remains on the balance
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