A claim has emerged that optimism is spreading in the developer community despite weakness in XRP's price.

The Crypto Basic, a blockchain outlet, reported on May 25 that Digital Asset Investor said sentiment among developers is turning positive even as XRP's price remains sluggish.

He said the current mood around XRP differs from previous market cycles. He said optimism is spreading beyond some prominent figures to multiple developer accounts on X, formerly Twitter. He added that other XRP influencers are also saying a positive tone is emerging among ecosystem builders. The remarks stirred expectations for wider adoption of the XRP Ledger, regulatory clarity and the possibility of stronger institutional integration.

Some community members countered that there is insufficient evidence to back that up. XRP is trading at about $1.35 and is down about 2 percent over the past week and about 5 percent over the past month. Some also said developer sentiment is running ahead even as the price continues to show weakness.

An X user, Demon (디몬), criticised claims that foreground expectations despite a lack of indicators showing actual development activity on XRPL. Another user, Kevin Walsh (케빈 월시), said it was closer to a "just trust me" argument and pointed to the absence of verifiable institutional demand or supporting on-chain data. He also dismissed renewed three-digit price projections for XRP spreading in the community.

Remarks by Dom Kwok (돔 콕) and Phil Kwok (필 곽), co-founders of EasyA, have also helped fuel the renewed bullishness on XRP. Appearing on the 'Rollup' podcast, they said XRP could reach $1,000 within 5 years. The two rejected scepticism that XRP would struggle to even surpass $10, saying crypto markets often move beyond traditional valuation frameworks and that XRP's utility could support strong long-term growth.

For XRP to reach $1,000 at current prices, it would need to rise about 740-fold. The outlook has again divided the community. Critics said that if such a price were realised, XRP could become one of the world's largest financial assets. The brothers, however, cited bitcoin as an example, saying digital asset markets have repeatedly exceeded market expectations.

The debate again highlights a recurring clash in the XRP community between expectations and demands for verification. Each time regulatory issues have eased, expectations for institutional adoption have grown, but price moves have differed depending on how much actual usage and inflows were confirmed. For developer optimism to gain market credibility, verifiable indicators such as concrete project progress or increased ledger use would need to follow.

With XRP currently moving sideways at $1.35, pushback over weak prices and a lack of data remains significant. Market attention is focused on whether XRP can move beyond expectation-driven debate and build grounds for a rebound through actual demand and network activity.

I've been covering XRP for almost 10 years now. I've seen all the ups and downs in sentiment. I can tell you for 100% there is shift among XRP developers. They're all flipping major bullish on XRP. This is not a coincidence. They know something. I'm not just speaking about… https://t.co/OpTeyddmdH