Recently, I noticed an interesting discussion about whether XRP could ever catch up to Bitcoin. It sounds like an intriguing theoretical question, but let's look at the numbers and market realities. Bitcoin has been the king of cryptocurrencies since 2009, holding about 57% of the entire market. Its market cap is currently around $1.6 trillion. XRP, on the other hand, is an inexpensive cryptocurrency with potential, trading near $1.44 and having a market cap of about $89 billion. The math here is simple and sad for XRP enthusiasts. To catch up to Bitcoin, XRP would need to increase approximately 18 times. But here’s the catch — while XRP grows, Bitcoin won't stand still. It’s like a race where the starting line is constantly moving. History shows that Bitcoin traditionally leads the entire market up or down. We’re seeing this now with global tariff conflicts. Some say that new spot ETFs for XRP could attract fresh investments, others point to Ripple’s new stablecoin. But honestly, that sounds like a stretch. If we reframe the question and ask whether XRP can show better performance over a certain period, that’s a more realistic scenario. XRP has indeed had an impressive move. At the start of this year, the coin jumped to $3.39, a 600% increase. It was the best-performing cryptocurrency for most of 2025. But how long will this last? Honestly, most of this growth was driven by optimism around crypto during the Trump administration. The whole move started after the November elections. Before that, XRP traded around $0.50 for months with little change. There were some real wins for Ripple. The SEC ended its longstanding case claiming XRP is a security. The White House also added XRP to the list of US digital asset reserves. All of this was good, but you know what? These news events are already priced in. Since January, XRP has fallen 43.58% over the year. That’s a worrying figure, showing that the coin isn’t immune to trade conflict risks. But there’s one area where XRP could really stand out — practicality. Bitcoin was designed as a peer-to-peer payment system, but let’s be honest — when was the last time you bought something with Bitcoin? Over the past decade, Bitcoin has become more like digital gold, accumulated by people rather than used as a medium of exchange. XRP, however, was developed as a tool for international payments. You can use it to transfer money across borders faster and cheaper than traditional banks. Major financial institutions worldwide are actually using XRP for complex international transfers. The problem is, global tariffs and trade wars could freeze all of this. Now to the main question — can XRP reach $3.84 or higher? In its 12-year history, XRP has never traded above $3.65 — its all-time high, which it briefly touched in 2018. If you’re expecting a 15-fold increase in the near future, you might want to reconsider your expectations. An inexpensive cryptocurrency with potential can certainly double from $1.44 to $2.88, and that would be an impressive result. But even in that scenario, XRP would remain far behind Bitcoin in total market capitalization. The reality is, an inexpensive cryptocurrency with potential like XRP can show good percentage gains, but outright surpassing Bitcoin in market cap just doesn’t seem feasible in the near future.