XRP Could Drop Below $1 as Former Ripple Engineer Warns XRPL Upgrade Could Hurt Decentralization

XRP Rich List

The XRP price prediction outlook is turning increasingly bearish as markets continue to move at a mellow pace. While the bearish XRP price prediction analysis points to the assets falling below $1, another pressing matter is now encroaching the domain. Matt Hamilton, a former Ripple executive and developer-relations director, has called out the XRP Ledger design, stating how its recent expansion plans may hurt the network’s long-term decentralization planning.

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XRPL Expansion Sparks Debate

XRP Ledger
Source: CoinMarketCap

A new XRP expansion debate is now heating up. Matt Hamilton, former Ripple executive and developer, has called out the recent XRPL plans. Hamilton has questioned the XRPL memo capacity. The proposed expansion may end up raising storage concerns.

The update that has been proposed would increase the XRPL memo capacity field from its current 1KB limit to roughly 1.3MB. This would allow users to place much larger files and data directly onto the ledger. Hamilton has specifically called out this development, criticizing the idea. The former Ripple developer shared how pushing such large files on blockchain may increase its storage requirement with time. He later added how this storage over time may create significant problems for the network, as larger files could increase the storage requirements for servers and make participation more expensive. XRPL servers can also maintain different amounts of ledger history, so the proposal does not mean every validator would necessarily store the entire historical ledger.

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XRP Price Prediction: Can The Token Fall Below $1?

While Ripple continues to bring new reforms, the XRP price prediction narrative is being downgraded, sparking a contrasting view. Polymarket has now put the probability of XRP falling below $1 at nearly 65%. This is a market-implied probability rather than 65% of individual traders believing XRP will fall below $1. The network is currently hounded by two major concerns, with one related to the XRP bearish outlook, while the other focuses on XRPL expansion plans. These are separate developments and the XRPL expansion proposal should not be viewed as the reason behind the bearish XRP outlook.

Both of these developments are important for XRP holders to take note of. A bearish market setup may expose XRP price predictions to further volatility, while such network issues pointed out by Hamilton may bring in significant network issues later.

However, CoinCodex XRP price prediction analysis is still strong. The platform states how the asset may eventually hit $3 by 2030. The asset at the moment is sitting at $1.04, intensifying the bearish outlook ideas.

XRP price prediction chart representing the XRP bearish outlook, with XRP below $1 in 2026 and XRPL expansion and XRP Ledger developments through 2030
Source: CoinCodex

However, this $1.04 figure should be updated with the latest XRP price before publication, as the current CoinCodex data is higher. CoinCodex’s long-term model has projected XRP at above $3 by 2030.

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Juhi Mirza

Written by Juhi Mirza

Juhi Mirza covers cryptocurrency, DeFi, blockchain, and on-chain markets, translating complex developments into clear, data-driven reporting.

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