XRP price has been on the move lately, hitting a recent high of $3.66, and that’s got the community talking. The big question? Did XRP just set a new all-time high, or is it still chasing the old one from back in 2018?
Plenty of people are pointing to the often-quoted $3.84 mark, saying XRP still hasn’t quite made it and there’s more room to climb. But according to Ripple CTO David Schwartz, that number is misleading.
In an older post from April 2023, and recently, Schwartz explained that prices above $3.30 came from inflated data, mostly from South Korean exchanges. He said those platforms converted Korean won (KRW) into U.S. dollars using unrealistic exchange rates, which pushed prices higher than what most global traders saw.
Schwartz made it clear: Very few people, if any, actually bought XRP above $3.30, unless they overpaid during a short-lived spike. He believes that XRP’s real all-time high sits closer to $3.30 to $3.50, not $3.84 or higher.
This price difference is tied to something called the “Kimchi Premium.” It refers to a well-known gap where cryptocurrencies trade higher on South Korean exchanges due to strict capital controls and heavy local demand. During the 2018 bull run, this premium caused some XRP prices in KRW to convert to $4.40, but that wasn’t the true global value.
Here’s What Real $XRP All-Time High is, According to #Ripple CTO.🧵🧵🧵 pic.twitter.com/tYo1bWivL6
— TheCryptoBasic (@thecryptobasic) July 19, 2025
Looking back at 2018 price data from major exchanges supports Schwartz’s point:
- Bitstamp: $3.31
- Binance: $3.35
- Bitfinex: $3.30
- Poloniex: $3.50
None of them hit $3.84.
So, what does that mean for today’s rally? If Schwartz is right, and the old numbers were inflated, then XRP recent move to $3.66 might already be a new true all-time high. That would mean XRP price has entered price discovery, trading in territory it’s never been in before on a global scale.
While some in the community still debate the numbers, Schwartz’s view offers a clear reminder: not all ATHs are created equal, especially when exchange rates and local premiums get involved.
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