Ripple CTO Emeritus Addresses XRPL Upgrade Concerns, Analyst Predicts Big Price Moves

The upcoming major XRP Ledger (XRPL) upgrade sparked concerns about frequent hard forks, two competing ledger streams, and asset clauses. Ripple CTO Emeritus moved to address these fears. Meanwhile, a crypto analyst highlighted a Bollinger bands technical setup that could trigger a major XRP price move ahead.

Former Ripple CTO Joins Hard Fork Debate Ahead of XRPL Upgrade

XRP Ledger to undergo v3.1.3 upgrade next week, with XRP Ledger Foundation contributors asking nodes to upgrade to the latest release to work properly. Some pointed out that the event is a hard fork,” noting that 60% of the network would be forked off if they didn’t update. This sparked a debate on which ledger will be the XRP mainnet.

“I don’t think anyone would want a one-node one-vote scheme. For one thing, anyone can create dozens of nodes just to game the voting scheme,” former Ripple CTO David Schwartz responded in an X post.

He clarified that consensus decides whether to continue XRP Ledger production under the old rules and run a validator in compliance, or upgrade to an improved one. However, Schwartz admitted that the XRPL had more hard forks than most established public ledgers, largely due to its use of smart transactors.

Currently, 46% of nodes have completed updating to the XRPL 3.1.3 release. Also, the major amendment in the upgrade has secured 100% consensus from validators.

Former Ripple CTO David Schwartz Explains How Forks and UNLs Work

Ripple CTO David Schwartz explained that validator splits don’t automatically create two equal chains. Each side needs enough validators to form a functional Unique Node List (UNL) that agrees on the preferred rules.

“Theoretically, all you need is one validator to have a functional UNL,” Schwartz noted. “Realistically, you need to find at least a half dozen people willing to run validators to have a plausible fork,” he added.

If there are two competing XRP Ledger (XRPL) streams, it will have two competing UNLs and two competing code distributions.

In response to which one would be XRP mainnet, Ripple CTO pointed out that major crypto exchanges run their own XRPL nodes for security reasons. XRP Ledger Foundation contributor Vet cleared the air over “mainnet,” saying, “This is not a contentious fork and only a fix.” Nodes will update over time after noticing they are not in sync with the XRP Ledger.

XRP Ledger Foundation CTO Dennis Angell revealed that crypto exchanges and market makers have contracts and hard fork clauses. “That’s ultimately what it will come down to imo,” he added.

You know, I've never actually really read a cryptocurrency loan agreement in detail. I wonder if they have clauses to say exactly what asset (or assets!) must be repaid in the event of a fork.

— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) May 19, 2026

Analyst Predicts Major XRP Move Ahead

Crypto analyst Ali Martinez shared a 3-day chart and indicated that XRP continues to move in tight Bollinger bands for over a year. This signals tight volatility compression, which precedes a major price move.

Currently, XRP price is a definitive no-trade zone. “We let the market make its move first, then trade the confirmation,” he claimed. Ali Martinez predicts a close above of $1.50 to confirm the next major trend direction. This could trigger an XRP price rally to $1.80.

However, a close below $1.29 invalidates the bullish structure and opens the door for a deeper correction back toward the $1 psychological support.

XRP is trading at $1.38 after recently retracing from $1.50. The 24-hour low and high are $1.37 and $1.40, respectively. Trading volume has increased slightly over the past 24 hours.