Popular cryptocurrency personality and Treasury Management professional Shannon Thorp has recently voiced her opinion on the various $XRP price predictions that have been made over time, arguing the cryptocurrency’s current affordability may be fleeting, due to a potential surge in value as it gains acceptance among institutional investors.

Acknowledging the speculative nature of the digital asset market, Thorp nonetheless shared her conviction that an uptick in XRP’s value is a near-inevitability.

Thorp presented a stark picture of the XRP landscape, stating that small-scale investors, often referred to as retail investors, account for a mere 1% of the total market, and noted that once institutional investors set in retail investors will hardly make a dent in the value of XRP, even if they take profits en masse.

In her price prediction, thorp pointed to the e increasing interest from large-scale financial entities such as the Federal Reserve, commercial banks, and other corporate entities. Thorp suggested that these institutional behemoths, once they channel more of their capital into XRP, will dominate the market to the point where the retail share becomes virtually inconsequential.

Thorp reasoned that these institutional investments, along with the increase in transaction volumes they are expected to bring, will play a central role in driving up the value of XRP, potentially pricing out retail investors.

She speculated that while the recently unveiled FedNow, an instantaneous payment service that does not use XRP and isn’t a central bank digital currency (CBDC), may not be the only such solution to launch.

In the current financial system, Thorp explained, whenever the Federal Reserve does something “banks must follow because that is how they communicate back and forth,” and when banks move their “business customers must follow because that is how they communicate with the banks.” As a result, FedNow may not be the only solution being launched in the near future, she concluded.

Notably, XRP has seen a sharp rise in investor engagement as open interest has recently hit a high that hadn’t been seen since the fall of 2021. Data shows that open interest topped $1.2 billion earlier this week.

As CryyptoGlobe reported, the number of XRP holders with at least one million tokens on the cryptocurrency’s ledger has now surpassed the 1,900 mark as an accumulation trend set off earlier this month was triggered by an uptick in investor sentiment.

Notably, the XRP token has seen its trading volume skyrocket to surpass that of the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin ($BTC), with Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, saying that XRP’s volume as a percentage of market capitalization quadruples that of BTC.

Various analysts have been bullish on the cryptocurrency after the ruling came out, with a popular crypto analyst recently revealing he sees the cryptocurrency’s price explode to $6.

Earlier, analyst Michaël van de Poppe focused on XRP saying he envisions a potential downward adjustment to approximately $0.65. This dip, however, is not cause for concern, as Van de Poppe believes it could set the stage for a bullish resurgence. According to his analysis, the post-dip rally could escalate XRP’s value to a high of $0.90.

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