Bold Call: Ripple Tipped To Become Payments Giant By 2040

Between 30% and 50% of retail XRP holders with significant positions are expected to sell at least part of their holdings if the token hits $10 — a threshold that would represent life-changing money for many of them.

A Vision Built On Acquisitions

That projection comes from analyst Jake Claver, who has laid out a sweeping view of where Ripple is headed over the next 15 years.

Claver believes Ripple is on track to become the dominant force in global payments and banking infrastructure by 2040, and possibly sooner.

“I think they will be the Goliath, the Amazon of payments and banking infrastructure,” he said in a recent video. He pointed to Ripple’s recent acquisition spree as the foundation of that argument.

The deals tell their own story. Ripple picked up GTreasury, a cash management platform. It acquired Hidden Road, a clearing and prime brokerage firm now operating under the name Ripple Prime.

Rail, focused on stablecoin issuance and management, was added to the portfolio. So was Metaco, along with Standard Custody — a combined entity now called Ripple Custody, which holds a trust-chartered bank and a BitLicense in New York.

Taken together, Claver describes the company as already functioning as a backend payments and settlement provider on a global scale.

The Long Game

The comparison to Amazon is deliberate. Amazon spent years building warehouses and supply chains before most people understood what it was constructing.

Claver draws a direct line between that story and what Ripple is doing now — laying down settlement rails, custody systems, and liquidity tools before major financial institutions have openly admitted they will need them.

Claver works directly with institutional XRP holders, and reports indicate those clients have a firmer grip on the long-term thesis. They are less likely to cash out early.

He has also built financial products that allow holders to put up XRP as collateral and earn returns without selling — removing the pressure to choose between liquidity and holding for the long run. Who Holds XRP — And What They Might Do

Data shows roughly 250,000 people worldwide hold more than 3,000 XRP. For a large portion of them, a price of $10 per token would represent a meaningful windfall.

Claver acknowledges that selling in that scenario is a rational move, not a failure of conviction. His estimate puts potential early sellers at 30% to 50% of significant holders.

Ripple’s story, in Claver’s framing, is not primarily about cryptocurrency. It is about infrastructure — the kind that quietly powers financial systems in the background.

Whether that vision plays out by 2040 remains to be seen, but the company’s acquisition trail suggests the groundwork is being laid now.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView