Most People Watching XRP Through Wrong Lens As XRP Underperforms: Black Swan Capitalist founder

For years, XRP price performance has been a source of frustration for many investors. 

While the broader crypto market has cycled through hype-driven rallies, XRP has often moved more slowly, leading to repeated claims that it is underperforming or broken. According to Black Swan Capitalist founder Versan Aljarrah, that conclusion misses the point entirely.

Key Points

“XRP Wasn’t Built for Hype Cycles”

Aljarrah argues that XRP is often judged using the same framework applied to speculative assets, where price momentum and sentiment dominate the narrative.

In reality, XRP was designed with a very different purpose, Aljarrah said. Rather than thriving on market excitement, it was built to function as a settlement asset when traditional systems struggle to move value efficiently.

From this perspective, price action alone is an incomplete measure of progress. XRP’s role is tied to utility, not short-term speculation, and that distinction explains why it doesn’t always mirror the explosive moves seen elsewhere in the market.

Why XRP Still Moves With the Broader Market

At present, XRP continues to trade within the same liquidity-driven structure as the rest of crypto. Bitcoin remains closely linked to debt markets, debt markets respond to global liquidity, and liquidity is still largely controlled through the U.S. dollar system. As long as XRP operates inside this framework, its price will reflect those conditions, Aljarrah noted.

Even the growth of stablecoins hasn’t fundamentally changed this dynamic. Stablecoins, while digital, are still representations of fiat currency and rely on an underlying settlement layer to function at scale.

Settlement Demand Is the Real Catalyst

According to Aljarrah’s view, true decoupling doesn’t occur because market sentiment improves or narratives shift. It happens when settlement becomes necessary, typically during periods of systemic stress. Only when existing financial rails are under pressure does demand for alternative settlement mechanisms emerge.

This is where XRP’s design becomes relevant. Its value proposition is not rooted in belief or speculation, but in demand driven by real-world settlement needs.

The takeaway is that XRP doesn’t need to win the popularity contest. It doesn’t need constant hype or bullish sentiment to fulfill its role. Its moment comes when the system requires what it was built to provide: efficient, neutral settlement at scale.

For investors focusing solely on charts, that can be easy to miss. But for those looking at structure rather than sentiment, XRP may be playing a much longer game.

“XRP Could Break Away from Bitcoin This Year”

Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg believes XRP may be one of the few major cryptocurrencies that will not closely follow Bitcoin’s price movements this year.

Speaking on a podcast, McClurg said he is bearish on Bitcoin, arguing it already peaked in October 2025 at $126,200. Since then, Bitcoin has fallen about 36%, and he expects another 20%–30% drop over the next six to nine months.

While most cryptocurrencies usually move in line with Bitcoin, McClurg thinks this cycle will be different for projects with real-world use cases. He believes 2026 will focus more on real-world asset tokenization and stablecoins rather than speculation.

He highlighted the XRP Ledger as well positioned for this shift, saying platforms tied to real-world applications could decouple from Bitcoin’s broader decline.

However, McClurg does not expect big rallies. He forecasts only modest, low double-digit gains for a small group of assets like XRP, while Bitcoin could continue to fall. Meanwhile, critics call this outlook unrealistic.