Ripple’s expansion efforts and the future potential of its XRP token are once again in focus following two major developments. The blockchain payments firm recently announced a partnership with African fintech platform Chipper Cash to facilitate crypto-enabled cross-border payments across the continent. At the same time, cryptocurrency index fund manager Bitwise has published a new long-term forecast suggesting XRP’s price could reach as high as $29 by 2030 if the token gains significant traction in the payments and asset tokenization sectors.
Ripple Partners With Chipper Cash to Power Crypto-Enabled Cross-Border Payments in Africa
Blockchain payments firm Ripple has announced a strategic partnership with African payment infrastructure provider Chipper Cash, marking another significant move in its mission to revolutionize global remittance corridors. According to a March 27 press release, Chipper Cash will leverage Ripple’s crypto-enabled payment solution, Ripple Payments, to facilitate cross-border transactions across key African markets.
The companies said the alliance is designed to address some of the most pressing challenges in the African payments landscape — particularly the high cost, slow speed, and lack of transparency often associated with cross-border money transfers.
Reece Merrick, Ripple’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, emphasized the importance of the partnership in Ripple's broader strategy to deepen its presence on the continent. This partnership is an important step in Ripple’s expansion in Africa, Merrick said.
Chipper Cash, one of Africa’s leading financial technology companies, operates in over 20 countries and is widely regarded as a major player in driving financial inclusion on the continent. Co-founder and CEO Ham Serunjogi underscored the impact crypto-enabled solutions can have in reducing the cost and complexity of cross-border transactions.
“Crypto-enabled payments have the potential to enable greater financial inclusion, accelerate access to global markets, and empower businesses and individuals across Africa,” Serunjogi stated. He added that integrating Ripple’s technology into Chipper Cash's platform will allow their customers “to receive payments faster and at lower cost.”
The partnership with Chipper Cash builds upon Ripple’s previous initiatives in the region. In late 2023, Ripple inked a deal with African fintech Onafriq, enabling payments between 27 African countries and international markets such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Chipper Cash collaboration is another example of Ripple’s focus on emerging economies where blockchain adoption is accelerating, particularly in the payments and remittance sectors. A recent report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis highlighted that stablecoins now account for nearly half of all transaction volume in Sub-Saharan Africa — a clear sign of the region’s growing interest in digital asset solutions.
Further supporting this trend, a late 2024 industry report projected that several African economies could evolve into key digital asset hubs, fueled by increasing crypto adoption, a young digital-savvy population, and an urgent need for accessible financial infrastructure.
Africa remains one of the most expensive regions in the world for sending money. According to World Bank data, the average cost of sending remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa is around 8%, compared to the global average of 6.2%. Blockchain-based payment networks like Ripple aim to address these inefficiencies, making cross-border transactions faster, more transparent, and considerably cheaper.
Merrick noted that the growing adoption of blockchain technology in remittances is a natural response to the market’s inefficiencies. “By integrating our technology into Chipper Cash’s platform, we’re enabling faster, more affordable cross-border payments while driving economic growth and innovation across the markets they serve,” he said.
Ripple’s Global Expansion Continues
The partnership comes amid a series of strategic wins for Ripple globally. Earlier in March, the company secured a payments license in Dubai, allowing it to offer cryptocurrency-powered payment solutions in the United Arab Emirates — a critical gateway between Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Ripple's momentum follows a major legal victory in its prolonged battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The court’s favorable decision has provided regulatory clarity, enabling Ripple to confidently expand its services without the shadow of legal uncertainty.
The Ripple-Chipper Cash partnership is being welcomed by industry observers as another significant step in unlocking the potential of blockchain technology in developing economies.
Financial inclusion advocates and crypto analysts alike have long argued that blockchain could reshape financial infrastructure across Africa, where traditional banking access remains limited and cross-border payments are costly and inefficient.
While Ripple and Chipper Cash have yet to provide further details on rollout timelines or target corridors, the move underscores a broader trend: Africa’s payment infrastructure is rapidly evolving, and crypto is playing an increasingly central role.
Bitwise Predicts XRP Could Soar to $29 by 2030 in Max Bullish Scenario
Meanwhile, in a report that is turning heads across the crypto industry, cryptocurrency index fund manager Bitwise Asset Management has unveiled a range of long-term price scenarios for the XRP token, projecting that the asset could potentially soar to $29.32 by 2030 in what it calls its "max scenario."
Bitwise’s ambitious forecast, released earlier this week, is based on the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and factors in XRP’s potential market share in two critical sectors: cross-border payments and real-world asset tokenization. The firm argues that even a modest penetration into these trillion-dollar markets could propel XRP’s market capitalization to levels previously unimaginable — surpassing even the likes of Microsoft’s current market cap.
In its most optimistic projection, Bitwise estimates that XRP’s market capitalization could grow to $2.9 trillion by the end of the decade. At that valuation, each XRP token would be worth $29.32, positioning the digital asset alongside the world's largest corporations in terms of financial weight.
Bitwise’s report outlines the conditions necessary for this “max scenario” to play out, highlighting the need for XRP to capture a "meaningful" share of the rapidly expanding payments market and the booming asset tokenization sector. In particular, tokenization — the process of converting real-world assets like stocks, bonds, and commodities into digital tokens on a blockchain — is seen as a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity.
While the $29 projection is eye-catching, Bitwise has also presented two alternative scenarios:
Bull Scenario: In a moderately optimistic case, XRP could climb to $12.70 by 2030 if the network maintains steady growth and faces minimal regulatory or technological obstacles. However, in this scenario, XRP would fail to capture substantial market share in payments or tokenization, relying instead on incremental adoption and usage.
Bear Scenario: On the other end of the spectrum, Bitwise warns that XRP could plummet to $0.13 if it fails to secure institutional adoption and the XRP Ledger (XRPL) ecosystem struggles to attract users. Such an outcome would represent a near-total collapse of XRP's value.
Looking ahead, one of the key catalysts that could potentially ignite XRP’s momentum is the approval of a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States — a development that appears increasingly likely.
Bitwise itself filed for an XRP ETF in October 2024, and analysts expect other financial heavyweights like BlackRock and Fidelity to follow suit. According to crypto market analyst Nate Geraci, XRP’s inclusion in the ETF landscape is “almost inevitable” now that the regulatory clouds have cleared.
An XRP ETF would make the token more accessible to institutional and retail investors alike, potentially driving substantial inflows into the asset.
Tokenization, Payments, and the XRP Ecosystem
Bitwise’s price projections are based on the belief that XRP is uniquely positioned to benefit from two powerful trends: the rise of blockchain-powered cross-border payments and the tokenization of real-world assets.
Ripple has already made significant strides in the payments sector, recently expanding its payment network in Africa through a partnership with fintech firm Chipper Cash. Additionally, Ripple’s growing presence in tokenization initiatives is aligned with its broader mission to create seamless, blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
However, Bitwise cautions that the road ahead is uncertain. The adoption of XRP in these sectors depends on regulatory clarity, technological advancements, and Ripple’s ability to onboard institutional clients at scale.
