A prominent crypto analyst and XRP enthusiast, known as BarriC, has outlined two distinct potential price trajectories for XRP, differentiating between a retail-driven rally and a more fundamental utility-driven surge. According to BarriC, a retail run, fueled by hype, social media momentum, and capital rotation from individual and whale investors, could propel XRP into a price range of $5 to $10. Such rallies are characterized by rapid demand spikes and high volatility but can retrace quickly once market sentiment cools.
In stark contrast, a utility-driven run would be powered by the sustained, real-world adoption of the XRP Ledger and Ripple's payment infrastructure within global finance. BarriC suggests this scenario could see XRP's price starting at a minimum of $100, rapidly moving to $1,000, and potentially skyrocketing into the $10,000 to $50,000 range. This outlook hinges on large-scale adoption by banks, payment providers, and financial institutions for cross-border settlements, liquidity provisioning, and asset tokenization.
Supporting this utility thesis, XRPL validator Vet emphasized in a recent YouTube podcast that "XRP is in the middle of everything" on the XRP Ledger. He explained that the ledger, designed from launch as a multi-asset platform with a native decentralized exchange, requires XRP for all network activities, including transaction fees and asset issuance, creating a symbiotic relationship between the token and its underlying infrastructure.
Separately, analyst Cheeky Crypto explored the long-term value proposition of holding XRP, framing 5,000 XRP as a significant "whale light" milestone. He argued that regulatory clarity in the U.S. provides a foundation for institutional adoption, as banks prioritize legal certainty and settlement reliability. Cheeky Crypto highlighted Ripple's upcoming RLUSD stablecoin as potential fuel for scaling ledger activity and noted that transaction fee burns could incrementally reduce XRP's liquid supply with high network usage.
However, he also cautioned about near-term challenges, including capital rotation into other sectors like AI, lingering legal overhangs from Ripple's past court case, and a key technical resistance zone near $2.26.
