A recent statement from an XRP Ledger (XRPL) developer suggests that XRP could be the key to an early retirement shortcut. Unlike steady paychecks or slow-growing investments in traditional assets, cryptocurrencies have the ability to create generational wealth rapidly, due to their penchant for sudden and explosive price moves. Among the thousands of digital assets on the market, the developer highlighted the token as his primary choice for investors seeking substantial returns, even sharing strategies for how the coin can help them retire in a few years. 

XRP Emerges As Shortcut To Early Retirement

A DropCoin XRPL developer, identified as ‘Bird’ on X, announced on Thursday, January 22, that buying and holding XRP at current prices could help investors retire within a few years. The bold claim quickly caught the attention of many in the crypto community, with some asking the developers to elaborate on the strategies involved and the expected timeline for achieving such wealth. 

Related Reading: XRP Price Obliteration Is Not A Matter Of If, New All-Time Highs Are Coming

Not stopping there, Bird claimed that investing in the token could eliminate the need for a job, suggesting that long-term investors may eventually rely on the potential profits from their holdings as a primary source of income. His statements were in response to a post by Watcher.Guru, which the developer directly referenced to support his optimistic long-term outlook. 

In that post, Watcher Guru quoted a statement reportedly made by Binance’s founder ChangPeng Zhao, who also agreed that holding crypto assets over time could make jobs unnecessary and allow investors to retire sooner than planned. The Ledger developer shared a screenshot of Zhao making similar remarks about Artificial Intelligence, suggesting that the Binance founder views both crypto and AI as powerful tools for achieving long-term financial freedom. 

A crypto community member who responded to Bird’s post questioned how long an investor has to hold XRP before retiring early. The developer answered humorously that it could be held indefinitely, adding that some investors could reach early retirement this year, while others may need a few more years. He emphasized that the timeline ultimately depends on how many tokens an investor holds.  

How High The Altcoin Could Rise To Enable Early Retirement

Addressing questions from the crypto community members, Bird shared his outlook on how high he believes XRP’s price could rise, helping investors achieve early retirement. He predicted that within the next few years, the cryptocurrency could rise to $100 and beyond—a significant jump from its current market price of around $1.90. 

Related Reading: How Donald Trump’s Latest Crypto Move Will Boost Demand For XRP

The Ledger developer suggested that reaching $100 could be a gradual process for the altcoin, forecasting an initial rally to $10 in the First Quarter (Q1) of 2026. Notably, Bird’s remarks reflect a classic buy-the-dip and hold strategy, where investors accumulate during downtrends and patiently wait for the price to rally explosively before taking profits.

XRP is increasingly being positioned as the core infrastructure for moving massive amounts of value across global financial networks. As trillions of dollars move daily across borders, platforms, and asset classes, the limitations of legacy systems are becoming impossible to ignore. Its core value lies in its ability to function as a neutral, high-speed bridge between disparate financial systems.

Is XRP Becoming A Standard Layer For Value Transfer?

XRP is building the rails for trillions, and the shift is already happening. Crypto analyst Xfinancebull reported a video on X where Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed at Davos 2026 that the payment firm has been working directly with banks around the world to connect tokenization and DeFi through the XRP Ledger, thereby turning it into a bridge between traditional finance and on-chain markets.

The number alone shows how fast the tokenized asset is moving. In just one year, the volume has grown from $19 trillion to $33 trillion, which is a 75% increase. According to Xfinancebull, most people still have no idea how big this will get. 

This is the shift; the rails are being laid right now, and XRP Ledger is one of the few networks that are ready to handle it. When institutional money starts moving at scale, it won’t care about the narratives or favorite altcoins. Instead, it will flow to where the infrastructure already exists, which is bullish for XRP.

Why Respecting Channel Levels Signals A Healthy Market Structure

The XRP market capitalization structure still looks constructive. An analyst known as Bird has highlighted that on the higher-time frame chart, XRP has been moving inside a clear descending accumulation channel for the past six months, and price has respected the top, mid-range, and bottom of that channel almost perfectly, which is exactly what should play out during a healthy accumulation phase.

Related Reading: XRP Maintains Bullish Bias Above $1.30 Despite Recent Rejection

Recently, the price pushed into the upper half of the channel, and then pulled back this week to retest the mid-range support. If this level continues to hold, the structure suggests that the altcoin is set up for another push higher, in Bird’s opinion. However, what makes this setup more interesting is how well it lines up with what’s happening across the broader market. 

The Russel 2000 is sitting at all-time highs, metals are starting to look like they are topping, Bitcoin dominance is beginning to feel heavy, Brad Garlinghouse speaks at Davos today, and the recent wave of community riddles has dropped this week. Bird concluded that when multiple signals start lining up like this, it usually means the market is preparing for a larger move. From the chart perspective, Bird remains bullish on the XRP setup.

After experiencing a slight upward push a few days ago, the price of XRP has pulled back as volatility slowly takes over the broader cryptocurrency market. However, on-chain data reveals an interesting story about investors, who appear to have entered an accumulation phase, scooping up the altcoin at a rapid rate that rivals past cycles.

A Cycle Déjà Vu For XRP

Buying activity is starting to heat up for XRP, but investors and traders seem to be entering a familiar phase. While these investors continue to accumulate the leading altcoin, their buying patterns on the network closely resemble those seen in the past. 

Glassnode, a popular on-chain data analytics platform, disclosed this pattern after examining the XRP Realized Price by Age (7-day Moving Average) metric. Specifically, the XRP Realized Price by Age is a key metric that determines the average price at which various cohorts of holders, divided by the length of time they have owned their tokens and last moved them.

As the price of XRP fluctuates, the chart shows that short-term holders are steadily building positions. This type of silent accumulation has been seen in the past when conviction-driven capital absorbs supplies before wider market notice, making it a critical period for the altcoin.

According to the data analytics platform, the current market structure for XRP is showing a striking resemblance to that of February 2022. A clear look into the chart reveals that active investors over the weekly to monthly timeframe window are now accumulating strongly, suggesting that bullish sentiment is returning toward the token.

One interesting thing about this accumulation is that it is happening below the cost basis of wallet addresses holding the altcoin between 6 months and 12 months. In the meantime, top purchasers continue to face increased psychological strain as long as this structure remains in place.

Why You Should Be A Patient Holder Of The Asset

Should this accumulation persist, the action is likely to lay the groundwork for another push higher. However, some investors remain skeptical about another upward move, especially to a new all-time high.

Crypto expert Bird has outlined the potential for XRP to experience a rally to a new all-time high, attributing it to the token’s design and growing role in the financial sector. The analyst stated that XRP is emerging as the foundation of the new financial system, not just another speculative asset.

Currently, the token has become a means for liquidity, payments, tokenization, and real-world use. “You don’t accidentally end up with something like this. Ripple has created something special and world-changing,” the expert added.

Bird stated that these kinds of assets only occur once in a lifetime, while encouraging investors to seek more insights about the token. This is because most people only become aware of them after the shift has already taken place.

In a statement on X, a crypto expert declared unwavering confidence that XRP will join the ranks of the world’s 10 largest assets by market capitalization within the next two years. Bird’s bold comment comes during a notable change in asset rankings, where silver recently overtook Nvidia in market cap. 

At the time of writing, XRP’s market cap is around $127 billion, a fraction of the threshold needed to break into the top 10, where it needs to reach at least $2 trillion in market cap.

Analyst Says XRP Can Join The World’s Top 10 Assets

The prediction was shared by crypto analyst Bird, who stated that he is 100% confident that XRP will appear on the leaderboard of the top 10 global assets by market capitalization within the next 24 months. This comment was made in response to when silver, with a current market cap of $5.036 trillion, overtook NVIDIA, which has a current market cap of $4.458 trillion, as the second largest asset behind Bitcoin.

This statement of XRP becoming a top 10 asset by market cap comes with an ultra-bullish expectation where XRP provides more value than most top global assets and companies.

At the time of writing, XRP’s market capitalization is around $127 billion, which places it well outside the top 100 global assets by market cap. In fact, only Bitcoin and Ethereum currently occupy spots inside the top 100, with Bitcoin ranking eighth globally at around $1.929 trillion and Ethereum at rank 35 with a market cap of $402.09 billion. 

What Would It Take For XRP to Reach Top-Ten Status?

The tenth-largest asset on the list of top assets is Broadcom, which currently has a market cap of approximately $1.611 trillion. In order for XRP to realistically become one of the world’s ten most valuable assets by market cap, the cryptocurrency would need to see extraordinary growth in price, which would not be possible without a corresponding growth in utility. 

XRP’s current valuation is around $2.10 per token, and its market cap falls far short of the $1.7 trillion that it needs to overtake Broadcom. Based on the current circulating supply of XRP, achieving a market cap of $1.7 trillion would require the cryptocurrency to trade at a price around $28 per XRP. This translates to an increase of about 1,220% from the current price level.

Interestingly, many bullish XRP enthusiasts and analysts put XRP trading at this price target one day, but these predictions are based on adoption in cross-border transfers and strong demand in both retail and institutional markets for XRP. However, whether XRP can realistically reach the $28 mark within the next two years is still an open question.

Crypto pundit Bird has highlighted why this week could be a massive one for XRP. This comes as market investors keep an eye on key macro events such as the U.S. CPI and also the upcoming CLARITY Act markup. 

Why This Is A Massive Week For XRP

In an X post, Bird stated that this is a massive week as the Russell 2000 has rallied to new all-time highs (ATHs). He explained that every previous time that this has happened, XRP has gone on to record a major run. The analyst also alluded to macro data dropping this week, which could also impact the XRP price.

Bird noted that the CPI and PPI inflation data, which drops this week, always injects volatility into the crypto market. The crypto pundit also stated that the long-awaited markup of the market structure bill (CLARITY Act) is scheduled for this Thursday. This is significant because the legislation could provide legal clarity for XRP and other crypto assets. 

The pundit remarked that the charts and macro are aligning for XRP. He predicted that if these developments push the altcoin above $2.70, it could quickly rally to a new all-time high (ATH). Bird asserted that if this doesn’t happen, then the market is likely manipulated, as he believes that XRP and the broader crypto market should be recording significant gains right now. 

It is worth noting that XRP rallied to as high as $2.3 at the start of the year but has since lost most of those gains, though the altcoin is still up over 10% year-to-date (YTD). XRP could be one of the crypto assets that benefits most from the passage of the CLARITY Act, as it would boost Ripple’s operations, which could in turn drive more adoption for XRP. 

XRP Could Rally To $2.26 From Here

Crypto analyst CasiTrades has predicted that XRP could rally to $2.26 from its current level. In an X post, she stated that she expects the altcoin to reach this level to complete a subwave 2 and that the next wave up is critical. The analyst warned that if the price action stays corrective, then there could be a sharp rejection that sends the altcoin into a subwave 3 down. XRP could break the .5 support in the process and target the $1.65 macro support. 

However, if XRP’s bounce has the strength to break above $2.41 and flip it into support, this could invalidate the scenario down to $1.65. CasiTrades remarked that this is the key decision in the market, even as market participants keep an eye on the macro fundamentals. 

Related Reading: Analyst Breaks Down Why Investors will Make More Money With XRP Than Bitcoin

At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $2.06, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

In a world where financial systems are becoming fragile, XRP stands out as the intersection of a financial infrastructure designed for instant global value transfer, speed, reliability, and global accessibility. XRP’s ability to move value instantly across borders, with minimal cost and without reliance on fragile banking systems, positions it as both a long-term wealth tool and a potential life-saving instrument.

XRP should be considered as part of life-saving plans. An analyst known as Bird on X has pointed out that most people keep their money in the bank, earning around 4-6% a year, and feel comfortable with it, but they rarely factor in the impact of inflation. Over time, the purchasing power of currencies like the US dollar and the British pound has been quietly eroded to the point where your money can grow on paper while losing value in the real world.

XRP’s Role In The Next Phase Of Global Payments

Although savings accounts are safe, many people are actually standing still or falling massively behind without even realizing it, which is why XRP comes in as a long-term life-saving strategy. XRP has spent years held back by legal uncertainty, and during that time, the technology continued to mature. Currently, there’s clarity, and what was being built has become visible.

Related Reading: XRP Ledger May Get A Tokenized Gold Upgrade, Web3 Founder Reveals

Real-world usage is arriving in cross-border payments, institutions are engaging, stablecoins like RLUSD are being introduced, and real-world assets are being tokenized on the chain. As the utility is increasing, capital is flowing into the ecosystem. More usage creates more demand, and sustained demand is what drives long-term value growth. According to Bird, XRP is to be trusted more than fiat, which is why it is a long-term savings vehicle rather than a short-term trade. 

XRP can be reserved for self-custody, stored on a cold wallet, removing reliance on banks altogether. Instead of earning a few percentages while fighting inflation, you’re holding a digital asset positioned at the centre of growing global financial infrastructure, which is more likely to increase in value over time. In comparison, it is unclear whether inflation will ever pause to make cash worth more.

The analyst views this scenario as a long-term wealth investment and believes that XRP will become one of the most utilised digital assets in the world. Thus, building a savings position now could prove to be one of the smartest financial decisions someone could make over the long run.

A Bridge Between Old Money And New Rails

ChartNerd noted that Ripple is not built to be a traditional crypto company that aims to destroy the old money. Instead, Ripple acts as the bridge between the old and new financial worlds, and this will be a more successful long-term strategy. 

A sustainable financial change will emerge gradually, not through a knee-jerk move or total disruption in just one cycle. XRP is clearly the long-game asset, while 2025 was the most productive year for Ripple, nothing is priced in yet.