Tensions between the world’s two largest economies — the U.S. and China — transcend tariffs and tariffs alone. Under the surface lies a cumbersome web of financial rail systems, currency mismatches, and cross-border settlement delays that throttle trade.
Gathering momentum in this shadow zone of global commerce is a provocative thesis from Versan Aljarrah, founder of Black Swan Capitalist, who argues that XRP could play a pivotal role in easing U.S.–China trade friction.
The Settlement Bottleneck in Global Trade
Today’s global trade settlement remains anchored to legacy rails. Cross-border payments are routed through correspondent banks, multiple intermediaries, and foreign-exchange conversions. These layers introduce latency, cost, and opacity.
Traditional trade chains rely heavily on the U.S. dollar and the Chinese yuan, which means one party often must hold pre-funded accounts in the other currency or endure multi-step settlements. This creates structural friction in trade corridors. Recent reports confirm that outdated settlement systems cost the global economy tens of billions annually.
Fun fact: $XRP can end the US-China trade war. As a neutral reserve asset, it settles payments instantly, bypasses dollars and yuan, and eliminates the delays and friction that stall global trade. Problem solved.
XRP as a Neutral Bridge Asset
Aljarrah’s core point: XRP offers a neutral, digital bridge-asset that can settle value between dollars and yuan instantly and cheaply.
By circumventing reliance on either national currency as the intermediate, it could reduce currency-conversion steps, shrink settlement times, and cut operational costs dramatically. Recent analyses show XRP-based infrastructure can settle in seconds rather than days and reduce costs by up to 90%.
His quote: “XRP can end the US-China trade war. As a neutral reserve asset, it settles payments instantly, bypasses dollars and yuan, and eliminates the delays and friction that stall global trade.”
Real-World Adoption & Evidence
Beyond theory, real-world adoption is already emerging. Chinese supply-chain fintech Linklogis has partnered with the XRP Ledger (XRPL) to shift its global digital trade-finance platform onto blockchain rails.
This signals growing institutional credibility in the asset’s settlement capabilities. Moreover, a bloc of major economies (the BRICS) officially referenced XRPL in a trade-finance report, citing its potential for automated escrow and blockchain-driven settlement.
Political and Regulatory Hurdles
However promising, Aljarrah’s vision is not without significant hurdles. XRP and the XRPL must navigate complex regulatory regimes in both the U.S. and China — each with its own concerns around monetary sovereignty, digital assets, and financial stability.
Also, while settlement rails can be improved, tariffs, strategic competition, intellectual-property disputes, and supply-chain decoupling are deeper political drivers of the U.S.–China trade war. A tech solution cannot alone resolve those. Analysts caution that XRP may streamline value flows, but cannot replace economic policy.
Why This Matters Now
As global trade faces persistent stress — from supply-chain fragility to currency-settlement stress — the search for more effective infrastructure has intensified.
If XRP becomes the settlement bridge in major corridors, two cumulative benefits can emerge: significantly reduced time and cost of trade flows, and diminished dominance of any one national currency rail. While that doesn’t instantly dissolve the U.S.–China trade war, it shifts a high-friction dimension of the conflict into a smoother, more neutral channel.
Final Thoughts
Versan Aljarrah’s thesis places XRP at the heart of a systemic settlement fix between two geopolitical adversaries. By serving as a neutral digital asset to reconcile dollar-yuan payment flows, it promises a fresh layer of efficiency in global trade.
Whether market-, institutional- or regulatory-forces align to make that vision practical remains open—but the narrative signals a meaningful shift in how we view crypto, trade infrastructure, and geopolitics.