数字资产能取代美元吗？Ripple首席技术官的大胆观点

David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, recently shared some interesting thoughts about the future of global finance during an X Space conversation. His core argument? The world might be moving away from the U.S. dollar as the primary reserve currency—and digital assets could fill that gap.

The Dollar’s Days Numbered?

Schwartz made it clear: he thinks “it’s quite realistic that many countries are simply done relying on the dollar.” While the U.S. has historically benefited from this arrangement, other nations see it differently. Here’s the catch—most countries won’t want to replace dollar dominance with another major power’s currency. That would just be swapping one problem for another.

He drew a parallel to the banking sector: when JPMorgan Chase or Deutsche Bank tried building industry-wide systems, thousands of smaller banks resisted because those systems gave larger competitors an unfair advantage. Nations might apply the same logic—why adopt a reserve currency controlled by your strongest geopolitical rival?

Enter: A Neutral Alternative

This is where digital assets enter the picture. If countries won’t accept another power’s currency, they might settle on something nobody controls—a neutral, decentralized asset that levels the playing field.

Among existing digital assets, XRP has some compelling characteristics. It’s built specifically for cross-border payments and institutional settlement, featuring:

• Fast transaction speeds
• Low fees
• Proven scalability
• Direct focus on financial utility (unlike assets designed purely as stores of value)

Why XRP Over Others?

Unlike Bitcoin, which is primarily a value store, or newer tokens with uncertain use cases, XRP already has infrastructure designed for exactly what a global reserve asset would need: reliable, fast settlement between nations and institutions.

Schwartz’s argument essentially boils down to this: the next reserve currency won’t be controlled by any single country. And among current options, XRP is arguably the most purpose-built for that role.

The broader implication? We might be witnessing a fundamental shift in how the global financial system could operate. Whether that actually happens is another question entirely.