XRP continues to split opinion in crypto circles, especially when it comes to long-term price forecasts. One high-profile supporter, known for making bold targets, says the debate is built on a mistaken premise: critics are pricing XRP by looking at history rather than a potential future of real, institutional adoption. On X, analyst BarriC argued that the biggest error investors make is trying to value XRP using a past that never included its intended utility. He’s earned a reputation for consistently calling ambitious price targets for the token, and he claims today’s valuation frameworks are incomplete because they assume XRP will always be a speculative retail asset traded within the familiar crypto cycle: four-year rhythms, Bitcoin halvings, bull runs, altcoin seasons and then bear-market resets. That retail-cycle lens, BarriC says, is why many analysts dismiss very large price targets as fanciful. They lean on charts, historical patterns and market-cap models to conclude prices in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars are unrealistic—arguing that such levels would imply a market cap exceeding major global asset classes. But BarriC counters that those models don’t account for a different path: a shift from exchange speculation to embedded, utility-driven demand inside global finance. “If XRP stops behaving like something you buy on an exchange and becomes a necessary infrastructure token, it won’t be priced like speculation,” BarriC wrote. He has previously projected that, after a phase of real-world utility, XRP could stabilize above $1,000—an outcome that, in his view, follows a different valuation logic than retail-driven markets. Central to the adoption thesis is Ripple’s payments infrastructure and the long-discussed possibility of displacing legacy systems such as SWIFT. Some proponents forecast Ripple and XRP capturing a meaningful share of global payments flows—numbers cited in these scenarios point to the massive $150 trillion annual movement that SWIFT processes. If Ripple were to secure even a portion of that traffic, demand dynamics for XRP would be fundamentally different from today’s environment. Ripple’s recent momentum—partnerships, acquisitions and other strategic moves—has helped fuel optimism and contributed to the company’s rising profile. The firm now ranks among the world’s largest private companies, reportedly sitting at ninth place. Takeaway: The debate over XRP’s future narrows to two core questions—will it remain primarily a speculative token within traditional crypto cycles, or will it transition into a utility embedded in global finance? BarriC and like-minded supporters see the latter as a scenario that invalidates conventional market-cap arguments and could dramatically reshape price expectations. Critics remain unconvinced, pointing to historical trading behavior and valuation math—so the tug-of-war over XRP’s long-term narrative is likely to continue. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news