Can $XRP Surpass Bitcoin?

Since its launch in 2009, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has become the most valuable cryptocurrency in the world. More than 15 years later, it still accounts for up to 60% of the value of the crypto market. However, the technology industry is full of stories about industry leaders who once dominated but later made way for smaller, more agile competitors. One competitor that has been receiving a lot of attention lately is XRP, the cryptocurrency previously known as Ripple. Market Capitalization In terms of market capitalization, it seems unimaginable that XRP could surpass Bitcoin. Although it is the fourth largest cryptocurrency in the world, with a market capitalization of 100 billion dollars, XRP is completely overshadowed by Bitcoin, which is still traded at a gigantic valuation of 1.5 trillion dollars. Let’s do a simple calculation here. XRP would need to soar in value by 15 times to have any chance of surpassing Bitcoin. And, at the same time that XRP’s value skyrockets, Bitcoin would essentially need to trade sideways for XRP to catch up. That simply cannot happen, as Bitcoin traditionally leads the market higher or lower. We are seeing this right now with the current tariff chaos. Therefore, XRP will need some kind of special catalyst to help it accelerate in value faster than Bitcoin. So what catalysts could drive that growth? Some believe that the upcoming launch of new spot ETFs could attract new investment capital, causing XRP prices to soar. Others suggest that Ripple, the company behind the XRP token, recently launching a new stablecoin could be enough to propel XRP to new heights. Performance Let’s change the argument a bit and define “outperform” as moving to superior market performance over time. This is a scenario that is more likely to occur, as XRP has surged until recently. When XRP reached a new 52-week high of 3.39 dollars in January, it had increased by up to 600%. For most of 2025, XRP is the highest-performing cryptocurrency. But how sustainable is this performance of XRP? After all, the dizzying rise of XRP is largely related to the optimism surrounding cryptocurrency under the Trump administration. All of XRP’s gains occurred after President Donald Trump’s election in November. For many months leading up to the election, XRP was trading at a price of $0.50 and was going nowhere. There have been some major victories for Ripple and XRP thanks to the cryptocurrency policies of the White House under Trump. One example is the SEC dropping the long-standing lawsuit against Ripple, alleging that XRP is a security and not a commodity. The White House under Trump was also very cautious when adding XRP to the new U.S. digital asset reserve list, while inviting Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse to events such as the White House Crypto Summit in March. But these events currently seem to be priced into XRP. Since January, XRP has decreased by 45%, a very alarming figure. It has proven that it is not immune to the risks and uncertainties of global trade tariffs. Practical However, there is one area where XRP has the potential to “outperform” Bitcoin, which is when it comes to utility. Utility simply refers to the potential use cases of a cryptocurrency. If XRP has more use cases than Bitcoin, then it can be said that it has higher utility. Although Bitcoin was initially created as a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system,” it has largely failed to deliver on this promise. In other words, when was the last time you paid for something with Bitcoin? Over the past decade, Bitcoin has largely transformed from a “medium of exchange” into a “store of value.” You buy Bitcoin and hold it, just like gold. Conversely, XRP is designed as a cryptocurrency that can facilitate cross-border payment flows. Using blockchain technology, you can use XRP to send money across borders to different countries, and you can do this much faster and cheaper than traditional financial networks. Over time, XRP has continuously added to its core functionality, to the point where major financial institutions around the world are now using XRP to send very complex payments across borders. The only issue here, of course, is that global tariffs and global trade wars could restrict all of this. Can XRP Reach $3.84? At the end of the day, it’s hard to see how XRP will surpass Bitcoin. True, there are many likable things about XRP, and its strong growth since the November election has been eye-opening. But keep this in mind: In its entire 12-year history, XRP has never traded above $4. The all-time high is $3.84, a quite ordinary level it reached briefly in 2018. Therefore, if you expect XRP to increase in value by 15 times in the near future, you may need to readjust your expectations. A more reasonable estimate would be a doubling in value, from the current price of 2 dollars to a future price of 4 dollars. That’s impressive, especially if it happens quickly, but it could still leave XRP lagging behind Bitcoin by more than 1 trillion dollars when it comes to overall market capitalization.