The potential of blockchain technology is often measured through transactions, token prices and financial applications. But Asheesh Birla, CEO of Evernorth, offers a broader comparison: blockchain could ultimately change the movement of value in much the same way the internet transformed the movement of information.
The comparison is important because the internet’s biggest impact was not simply putting newspapers online. It created entirely new businesses, industries and ways for people to produce, distribute and monetize information. Birla argues that blockchain could follow a similar path, but with financial value becoming programmable and accessible through an internet connection.
His personal experience with the XRP Ledger helped shape that view. In 2013, Birla said he used the XRPL to exchange U.S. dollars for Bitcoin and send the BTC to a friend’s address in a single atomic transaction without relying on a major intermediary.
That experience illustrates one of blockchain’s original promises: reducing the number of steps between two parties trying to exchange value. The technology does not simply digitize an existing financial process. It can potentially change how ownership, settlement and access to financial markets work.
XRPL and the Move From Information to Value
The internet took decades to evolve from a network for information sharing into a foundation for commerce, media, communication and entire digital industries. The latest research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau shows how large that transformation has become, with the U.S. digital economy reaching $4.9 trillion, equivalent to 18% of GDP, while supporting 28.4 million jobs.
Blockchain remains much earlier in that development cycle. Its long-term opportunity may therefore be difficult to measure using today’s applications alone. Payments, stablecoins, tokenized assets and decentralized finance could eventually become building blocks for broader markets that are not yet obvious.
Related: Made in USA Builds Blockchain Verification Platform on XRP Ledger
Stablecoins provide an early example. Birla points to roughly $300 billion in stablecoins as evidence that internet users can increasingly hold and transfer dollar-denominated value without necessarily maintaining a traditional U.S. banking relationship. At the same time, stablecoins provide an on-chain unit of account that other financial applications can build around.
This is where the XRPL becomes particularly relevant to the discussion. The network was designed around fast settlement and payments, but its potential is no longer limited to moving one asset from one wallet to another. As tokenization, stablecoins and institutional blockchain applications develop, infrastructure capable of settling different forms of value could become increasingly important.
The path will not be straightforward. Blockchain developers still face questions around regulation, security, interoperability, liquidity and user access. Birla’s argument is not that those problems have disappeared, but that the industry is gradually moving from asking whether blockchain has a purpose to determining how large that purpose can become.
Could Blockchain Create Its Own Internet Economy?
The internet’s economic transformation also demonstrates why adoption should not be judged solely by the first applications people see. Social media, e-commerce, cloud computing and the creator economy were not obvious outcomes when the early internet was being developed. They emerged because millions of people received tools that allowed them to create and participate.
Blockchain could follow a similar pattern if financial infrastructure becomes sufficiently open and programmable. A developer could potentially build a financial service on top of blockchain infrastructure without needing to construct the entire settlement system from scratch. That could lower barriers for new financial products and businesses.
For the XRPL, the opportunity is therefore larger than XRP payments alone. Its long-term relevance could depend on whether developers, financial institutions and users build an expanding ecosystem around tokenized value, payments, stablecoins and other applications that require reliable settlement.
There is also an important lesson for XRP investors. A compelling technology thesis does not automatically translate into a higher XRP price. Network adoption, liquidity, regulation, token utility and actual economic activity all matter, and the transition from infrastructure to mass adoption can take years.
Still, the internet comparison provides a useful way to think about where blockchain could be heading. The most important applications may not be the ones that dominate today’s headlines. Just as the internet eventually produced economic models that were difficult to imagine in its early years, blockchain could create financial markets and businesses that are still difficult to define.
For the XRPL community, that makes the central question less about whether blockchain can replace a particular financial intermediary and more about what becomes possible when value can move as freely as information. If that transition succeeds, the biggest blockchain opportunity may not be improving today’s financial system at the margins, but helping create an entirely new digital economy.
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