Why XRP Price Is Stuck Despite Ripple’s Big Wins: Shareholders Before Holders, Says Expert

Ripple has had one of its busiest stretches in years. It won a national trust bank charter, launched new partnerships and talked up XRP throughout Ripple Swell. Yet XRP is still trading near $1.27. Billy Trajcevski, Head of Strategic Partnerships at UpTrade, says the reason has more to do with Ripple’s structure than with the news itself.

“XRP Is Not A Stablecoin”

Many holders worry that RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar stablecoin, is taking attention away from XRP. Trajcevski rejected that idea.

“XRP is not a stablecoin. RLUSD is. It’s really as simple as that,” Trajcevski said.

Trajcevski argued that if XRP competed with RLUSD as a dollar substitute, it would simply sit at $1 forever, which no holder wants. “If XRP replaces the dollar, we’re all screwed because the price is going to remain flat,” Trajcevski said.

Where XRP Still Fits

According to Trajcevski, the two assets have different jobs:

• RLUSD: the settlement currency institutions want, because global commerce runs on US dollars
• XRP: the bridge for cross-border payments and foreign exchange, when a payment involves currencies other than the dollar

A business paying an international invoice in another currency needs a float of XRP to do it, Trajcevski said, and RLUSD alone cannot do that job.

The Real Reason XRP Is Lagging

Asked why the good news has not shown up in XRP’s price, Trajcevski pointed to a basic business reality. Ripple is a private company that answers to its shareholders, and shareholders want to see several sources of revenue, not a business that depends on one asset.

“If your entire business model is based on the success of the XRP token, the board will not be happy, shareholders will not be happy,” Trajcevski said.

That is the message many XRP holders do not want to hear. Ripple will keep building use cases and demand for XRP because that is in its interest, Trajcevski said, but it will not stake its whole business on the token.

From Distance To “Full Circle”

Trajcevski also described how Ripple’s public stance toward XRP has changed. During the SEC lawsuit, Ripple kept its distance from the token, as any company in its position would. Now that the case is resolved, Trajcevski said, the company has “come full circle,” and open support for XRP is back.

The clearest result from Swell, in Trajcevski’s view, is that XRP has the full backing of the Ripple team.

The Most Bullish News Nobody Noticed

Trajcevski picked out one headline from Swell that drew little attention: BNY, the world’s largest custodian, now offers custody for XRP.

BNY serves major institutions, not retail investors. If it is offering XRP custody, Trajcevski said, there is clear institutional demand for the token, or Ripple has made it clear that demand is coming. Trajcevski called it the most bullish news of the event, even though it looked the least important.

New XRP Use Cases In The Works

Trajcevski also pointed to a session with Bullish CEO Tom Farley. Bullish already uses RLUSD in some of its products, and according to Trajcevski, the exchange is now in active talks with Ripple about new ways to use XRP that do not exist yet.