- XRP’s 100B supply isn’t excessive if viewed as infrastructure, not a speculative asset, designed to operate globally.
- XRPL fees are permanently burned, and large-scale identity and compliance use cases could drive massive transaction volume.
- The real metric is throughput and usage, with XRP positioned as background infrastructure for value, identity, and trust.
Crypto commentator Pumpius has pushed back against a long-standing criticism of XRP: that its fixed supply of 100 billion tokens is excessive. According to the pundit, this argument only holds if XRP is viewed as a conventional digital asset rather than as foundational infrastructure designed for global-scale use.
Pumpius argues that many supply-based critiques overlook XRP’s intended role as a settlement layer, rather than a speculative instrument comparable to smaller blockchain networks.
XRP as Infrastructure, Not Just an Asset
In his commentary, Pumpius draws a comparison between XRP and the early internet. He notes that it is nearly impossible to assign a precise value to the internet itself, despite its central role in daily life and global commerce.
From that perspective, attempting to price a global settlement and trust layer narrowly may overlook the scale at which such systems are designed to operate.
The argument suggests that XRP’s supply appears large only when its function is misunderstood. When framed as infrastructure supporting value transfer, identity, and verification, the scale of the network becomes a more relevant metric.
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People keep repeating that one hundred billion XRP is too much supply.
That argument only survives if you think XRP is just another asset.
It quietly collapses once you see what XRP was actually designed to be.
Here is the part most people are never encouraged to think about.
We… pic.twitter.com/dIaVMlidQn
— Pumpius (@pumpius) December 14, 2025
On-Chain Utility and Supply Burn Dynamics
A central part of Pumpius’ thesis focuses on XRP Ledger’s transaction mechanics. On the XRPL, transaction fees are burned rather than recycled, permanently removing small amounts of XRP from circulation with every on-chain action.
Pumpius points to emerging identity-focused use cases, including XRPL-based identity stacks and DNA-powered zero-knowledge systems, as potential catalysts that could significantly increase transaction volume.
Each verification, update, or cryptographic attestation consumes a fee that is permanently destroyed, gradually reducing the total supply over time.
Identity at Internet Scale
The pundit outlines a scenario in which XRPL underpins a global digital identity layer. In such a model, hundreds of millions or even billions of users could be issued cryptographic identity credentials. Routine activities such as identity verification, compliance checks, and eligibility confirmations would all generate on-chain interactions.
Even if the cost per interaction remains minimal, Pumpius argues that internet-scale adoption fundamentally alters the equation. Small burns, repeated billions of times, introduce dynamics that most current market models fail to consider.
Beyond Crypto: Real-World Use Cases
Pumpius further expands the scope beyond financial transactions. He highlights potential applications in healthcare identity, biometric verification, genomic data integrity, cross-border compliance, and government-issued digital IDs.
In these scenarios, zero-knowledge proofs could allow verification without exposing sensitive data, while settlement and validation occur on the XRPL.
As more tokenized assets and regulated systems require compliant, identity-verified settlement, XRP’s role would shift further away from speculative crypto markets and closer to critical digital infrastructure.
Throughput, Not Supply, as the Core Metric
According to Pumpius, the real discussion should center on throughput and usage rather than headline supply figures. From this viewpoint, 100 billion XRP is not excessive for a system designed to operate at a planetary scale, settling value, identity, and trust in the background of everyday digital life.
He concludes that such infrastructure often develops quietly, with its significance only becoming clear once adoption reaches critical mass, much like the internet itself in its early years.
Also Read: “More XRP Ecosystem is a Good Thing,” Ripple CTO Reacts to New Update
