It’s interesting to see how Bitcoin, since its launch in 2009, has remained the most valuable cryptocurrency, controlling about 57% of the crypto market. But the history of technology shows that leaders often give way to more agile competitors. And now XRP—formerly known as Ripple—is starting to attract serious attention. This is exactly the cheap cryptocurrency with potential that many people are talking about.

Looking at pure market capitalization, the prospect of XRP catching up to Bitcoin seems almost impossible. Yes, XRP ranks fourth among cryptocurrencies with a market cap of around $84.77 billion, but Bitcoin is still trading at $1552.57 billion. Simple calculation: XRP would need to grow 18 times just to even have a chance. And at the same time, Bitcoin would essentially have to stand still—and we know that doesn’t happen. Bitcoin usually pulls the whole market up or down with it. So, some kind of special catalyst is needed. Some believe that spot ETFs on XRP could bring in new money. Others think Ripple’s new stablecoin could change the game.

But if you rethink the idea of “catching up” as simply delivering higher returns over a certain period, the picture changes. XRP really did look like a cheap cryptocurrency with potential in the first half of the year. In January, it reached a one-year high of $3.39 and surged by 600%. For much of 2025, XRP was the most profitable asset in the market. But how sustainable is this growth?

The truth is that most of this rise was driven by optimism about cryptocurrencies during the Trump administration. All of the major jumps in XRP happened after the presidential elections in November. Before that, for months XRP traded at around $0.50 and barely moved. Here there were several big wins for Ripple: the SEC dropped a long-standing lawsuit in which it claimed that XRP is a security rather than a commodity. The Trump White House also allowed XRP to enter a new U.S. digital asset reserve system and invited Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse to events such as the Cryptocurrency Summit in March. But these developments are already baked into the price. Since January, XRP has fallen 45%, which points to a lack of resilience to risks and trading tariffs’ volatility.

But there is one area where XRP could truly have an advantage over Bitcoin, and that’s practicality. Bitcoin was created as a peer-to-peer payment system, but it still hasn’t become widely used as a means of payment. When was the last time you paid with Bitcoin? Over the past decade, Bitcoin has transformed from a “medium of exchange” into a “store of value.” You buy Bitcoin and hold it like gold. XRP, on the other hand, was specifically designed for cross-border payments. By using blockchain, you can send funds across borders much faster and cheaper than through traditional financial networks. Over time, XRP has evolved, and now major financial institutions around the world use it for complex international payments. The only problem is that global tariffs could make all of this harder.

In summary: it’s difficult to imagine how XRP could realistically catch up to Bitcoin. Yes, XRP has plenty of positives, and its strong rise since the November elections has been impressive. But one fact must be remembered: over its entire 12-year history, XRP has never traded above $3.65. That is its all-time high, reached briefly in 2018. If you’re expecting a cheap cryptocurrency with potential like XRP to grow 18 times, maybe it’s worth revisiting your expectations. A more realistic scenario is doubling its value from the current $1.37 to $2.74. That’s still impressive—especially if it happens quickly—but even then, XRP will remain far behind Bitcoin in overall market capitalization.