Since its release in 2009, Bitcoin has been around for a long time. (Cryptography: BTC) He was the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, and was standing alone. Over 15 years later, it accounts for a whopping 60% of the cryptocurrency market value.
But the tech industry is filled with stories of industry leaders who once ruled the best, but later gave ground to smaller, more agile competitors. The competitor that has been gaining a lot of attention these days is XRP. (Cryptography: XRP)a cryptocurrency previously known as Ripple.
As for market capitalization, it seems unlikely that XRP will be able to overtake Bitcoin. XRP is the world’s fourth largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $100 billion and has a market capitalization of $100 billion.
Let’s do some simple math here. XRP should spike in value at a multiple of 15 times, as it could overtake Bitcoin. And as XRP is rising in value at the same time, Bitcoin essentially requires a flat exchange, XRP can keep up.
Image source: Getty Images.
Given that Bitcoin traditionally leads the market higher or lower, it simply isn’t possible. We are looking at this now in the current tariff turbulence. Therefore, XRP needs some kind of extraordinary catalyst to help accelerate value faster than Bitcoin.
So, what are some of the catalysts that will help it grow? Some have suggested that the imminent launch of new spot ETFs will attract new investors influx and could send XRP prices. Others have suggested that the recent launch of a new Stablecoin by Ripple, the company behind the XRP token, may be enough to allow XRP to surge and send it to a new level.
It means changing the argument a bit, defining “overtaking” and changing the performance of a good market over the long term. This is a much more likely scenario, considering XRP had been shedding absolute tears until recently. When XRP hit its new 52-week high of $3.39 in January, it was a heart-warming 600%. For most of 2025, XRP was the best performing cryptocurrency.
But how sustainable is this performance with XRP? After all, the rise of XRP meteors is primarily linked to the pro-cryptic optimism surrounding the Trump administration. All XRP benefits came after President Donald Trump was elected in November. A few months before the election, XRP was trading for just a mere $0.50, but it wasn’t quite fast.
There have already been some major victories for Ripple and XRP as a result of the Trump White House crypto policy. For one thing, the SEC has stopped a long-term lawsuit against Ripple, which claimed XRP was security rather than a product. The Trump White House has taken note to include XRP as part of its new US digital asset stockpile, while inviting Ripple CEO Bradgaring House to events such as the White House Script Summit in March.
The story continues
However, these events now appear to be priced at XRP. Since January, XRP has been a very calm 45%. It has been proven to be less than the risks and immunity of uncertainty in the world of trade tariffs.
However, there is a possibility that XRP could “overtake” Bitcoin, which has one area when it comes to utilities. A utility refers to possible use cases for cryptocurrency. If XRP has more use cases than Bitcoin, it can be said that it has a higher utility.
Bitcoin was originally created as a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system,” but it failed to fulfill this promise. In other words, when was the last time you paid for Bitcoin? Over the past decade, Bitcoin has changed dramatically from a “vehicle of exchange” to a “valuable store.” You buy bitcoin and save it like gold.
In contrast, XRP was designed as a cryptocurrency that could promote cross-border payment flows. Blockchain technology allows XRP to send money across borders to different countries, much faster and cheaper than traditional financial networks.
Over time, XRP is steadily adding its core capabilities, leading financial institutions around the world are using XRP to send extremely complicated payments across borders. Of course, the only problem here is that the global tariffs and the world trade war can reduce all this.
At the end of the day, it’s difficult to see how XRP overtakes Bitcoin. Yes, I like a lot about XRP, and the November election has seen some eye-opening growth. However, keep this in mind. Over the entire 12-year history, XRP never exceeded $4. The highest ever height was $3.84, and was a temporary hit in 2018.
So, if you are hoping that XRP will soon increase in value by 15 times, you may need to readjust your expectations. A more reasonable estimate would be twice the value from the current price to the future price of $2 to $4. It’s impressive, especially when it happens quickly, but XRP will likely track XRP over $1 trillion in terms of overall market capitalization.
Consider this before purchasing stock on XRP.
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Dominic Basulto has Bitcoin and XRP positions. Motley Fool has Bitcoin and XRP positions and is recommended. Motley Fools have a disclosure policy.
Can XRP overtake Bitcoin? Originally published by The Motley Fool
