Why XRP Must Be a High-Valued Asset to Function as Global Settlement Infrastructure

Most discussions about XRP’s price revolve around speculation, cycles, narratives, and catalysts. None of that has anything to do with what ultimately determines the long-term valuation of a settlement asset. The market price of a bridge asset is not shaped by sentiment or community excitement. It is shaped by capacity. A settlement asset must be able to absorb large flows of capital without becoming unstable. If the asset is too small in valuation, it cannot support the throughput that real financial markets demand.

This is the fundamental truth:

A low-value XRP cannot perform the role it is designed for. A high-value XRP is not an advantage. It is a requirement for the system to function.

What follows is a complete explanation of why.

A Bridge Asset Lives or Dies by Its Capacity, Not Its Technology

The most misunderstood element of XRP’s design is that speed and low fees are not the differentiators that matter in high-volume settlement. Speed is necessary. Finality is necessary. But neither determines whether the system can operate at scale.

A bridge asset is judged by one criterion:

Can it handle the size of flows that institutions need to move, without causing market distortion?

If the answer is no, everything else becomes irrelevant.

When a bank, payment provider, treasury desk, or on-chain FX system moves value through a bridge, the asset cannot react. If size causes slippage, the system becomes unusable.

Low value means high unit volume. High unit volume means higher volatility. Higher volatility breaks the system.

This eliminates the fantasy that XRP could remain low in price and still serve its intended role.

Settlement Assets Must Minimize the Number of Units Needed for Transfers

Institutions do not settle payments with “tokens.” They settle notional value.

If XRP is low-valued, millions of units must move to settle ordinary institutional flows. This forces every corridor to handle massive quantities of units, which increases:

• market impact

• volatility

• slippage

• exposure

• hedging cost

• operational complexity

The lower the unit value, the more pressure hits the order books. The higher the unit value, the calmer the markets behave during settlement. This is why high-value settlement assets are standard across all existing financial infrastructure.

The fewer units you move, the more predictable the system becomes.

Liquidity Depth Scales With Valuation

Liquidity depth is not about volume. Liquidity depth is the measure of how much capital can pass through an asset before its price moves. Depth is what determines usability.

A high-priced asset creates depth because it reduces the number of units needed to move value. That lowers pressure on the order book, compresses volatility, and allows market makers to operate efficiently.

Depth governs:

• stability

• spread control

• hedging efficiency

• corridor reliability

• execution predictability

A shallow asset cannot perform institutional settlement no matter how fast or cheap it is.

Valuation is inseparable from depth.

Market Makers Cannot Maintain Tight Spreads at Low Valuations

The entire settlement model depends on market makers keeping spreads extremely tight. If spreads widen, settlement fees increase. If settlement fees increase, institutions abandon the corridor.

Spread control is only possible when:

• the asset is predictable under size

• volatility is manageable

• inventory risk is low

• exposure can be hedged reliably

A low-value asset moves too violently under moderate institutional order flow. Market makers widen spreads to manage risk. Wider spreads kill the corridor.

A high-value asset moves far less under identical flows, allowing spreads to remain narrow and predictable.

If XRP is to serve institutional settlement, market makers must be able to treat it like an FX instrument.

That requires valuation.

High Valuation Reduces Volatility During Real Flows

Volatility is not purely caused by speculation. Volatility is heavily driven by liquidity pressure. When a low-value asset is asked to handle large flows, the system becomes unstable. Institutional corridors require volatility compression. A high-value bridge asset absorbs large flows with minimal reaction.

This is a function of math.

It has nothing to do with belief or optimism.

A two-dollar asset reacts to size. A high-value asset absorbs size.

Which one can settle global payments, tokenized treasuries, corporate flows, and cross-network stablecoin routing? Not the low-value one.

Tokenized Markets Require High-Value Settlement Layers

As financial markets move toward tokenization, settlement volumes will increase dramatically across:

• money market funds

• treasuries

• corporate debt

• commercial paper

• bank deposits

• cross-border liquidity

• commodities

• stablecoins

• traded assets

Tokenized markets do not operate in small increments. They operate in large notional sizes.

A low-value settlement asset would be overwhelmed by tokenized flows. A high-value asset can handle it.

The settlement layer must scale to the markets it touches.

XRP cannot remain low-valued and serve these markets.

Liquidity structure forbids it.

Stablecoins Create More Flow Pressure, Not Less

Many people assume stablecoins reduce the need for XRP. The opposite is true. Stablecoins are endpoint assets. They do not connect to each other. They cannot bridge multi-network liquidity. A bridging asset is required to:

• route stablecoins between networks

• route tokenized deposits between banks

• route tokenized treasuries through FX lanes

• route cross-border money movement

The more stablecoins exist, the more bridging is needed. The more bridging is needed, the more liquidity pressure increases. The more liquidity pressure increases, the higher the settlement asset must be valued.

Low valuation cannot support this flow environment.

RLUSD Accelerates the Valuation Requirement

RLUSD introduces regulated USD liquidity directly onto Ripple’s infrastructure.

This increases velocity, flow, and demand for bridging.

As RLUSD gains adoption, it will create:

• more volume through corridors

• more demand for predictable execution

• more pressure on market makers

• more need for deep liquidity

This forces the system toward higher valuation.

Because valuation is the only lever that can expand depth.

RLUSD strengthens the case for a high-valued XRP, not a low-valued one.

Global Settlement Rails Require High-Value Assets

Every major settlement system on earth relies on high-value instruments:

• Fedwire

• CHIPS

• CLS

• CME collateral

• central bank reserves

• institutional money markets

None of these systems operate on low-value rails. They cannot. They would destabilize.

A settlement asset must reflect the size of the economy it helps facilitate.

If XRP is to route even a small percentage of global settlement flows, its valuation must match the scale of the environment.

A High Valuation Is Not Optional. It Is Required for the System to Function.

This is the conclusion most people miss. A high XRP price is not:

• a reward

• a prediction

• speculation

• a psychological milestone

• a “bullish scenario”

• a wish

It is a structural necessity for the system to operate with stability.

If XRP remains low-priced, it can only serve small retail corridors. It cannot serve institutions. It cannot serve tokenized markets. It cannot serve stablecoin routing. It cannot serve cross-network FX. It cannot serve enterprise treasury flows. The system demands valuation. Not to enrich investors. But to maintain execution quality.

XRP must be a high-valued asset for the same reason that a highway needs multiple lanes. Capacity is the determinant.

Conclusion: Price Is a Function of Role, Not Sentiment

A settlement asset does not rise in price because people want it to. It rises because the system cannot operate without that valuation.

The higher price is not the goal. It is the requirement.

If Ripple’s infrastructure fulfills even a fraction of its intended use case, XRP must be a high-valued asset because that is the only way the system can maintain:

• depth

• stability

• predictability

• tight spreads

• low slippage

• institutional execution

• cross-network functionality

This is not speculation. This is liquidity theory.

A low-priced XRP is incompatible with the job it is built to perform. A high-valued XRP is mandatory for stability.

That is the entire truth.