The most direct way to build wealth in the capital markets is by purchasing securities (stocks or bonds) and adding to your winners over a long-term time horizon. With that said, during times of uncertainty, it's not uncommon for investors to begin looking for alternatives.
Although the average investor enjoys seeing their portfolio rise, these same investors may panic and begin to wonder if stocks are the best choice during times of heavy market sell-offs. This mindset is a little ironic given the fact that owning stocks helped them accumulate wealth in the first place.
Popular alternative investments often include commodities, real estate, or even collectibles and novelties. However, for some investors with a higher risk profile, cryptocurrency could also round out a portfolio of alternative investments.
Let's explore how the crypto market is holding up right now as President Donald Trump's tariff policies continue sending shockwaves across the market. Moreover, I'll explore a popular token called XRP (XRP 3.57%) and assess if now is a good time to buy the dip as its price hovers around $2.
CRYPTO: XRP
Key Data Points
Crypto isn't holding up too well right now, and...
One thing to understand about cryptocurrency is that only a select few tokens offer much utility. While coins such as Dogecoin or Shiba Inu are quite popular, they are both meme coins -- meaning their price fluctuations are often correlated with popular online narratives as opposed to actual fundamental progress exhibited by the asset itself.
Two mainstream cryptocurrencies that actually do have some utility in the real world are Bitcoin and Ethereum. As the chart above illustrates, the returns so far this year for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and popular crypto trading exchange Coinbase are all negative.
On the surface, you might think that during a time of uneasiness in the stock and bond markets, the prices of cryptocurrency would rise, as investors would be looking for other areas to invest in. And while XRP has held up better than its peers so far in 2025, I'll break down below how Trump's new tariffs could affect the cryptocurrency and how its price could move from here.
... XRP's utility looks uncertain
Financial transactions have two core pain points: settlement times and exchange fees. Ripple is a financial technology company that created XRP as an alternative to mainstream cross-border transaction services such as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). By using Ripple's network, businesses and consumers can avoid the arduous task of using clunky intermediary payments infrastructure -- thereby leading to faster settlement times and incurring lower exchange fees.
The problem I see when it comes to investing in XRP right now revolves around how tariffs could implicate widespread usage of crypto.
If the new tariffs affect trade in the form of lower import volumes, then it's plausible that demand for cross-border payments could fall, and the need for facilitating foreign exchange transactions is not as much of a priority. With that said, this scenario pertains more to how financial institutions and businesses are using XRP.
XRP's infrastructure could still be utilized under the new tariff policies by individuals who may be sending money back home to relatives in another country. In this scenario, tariffs could actually lead to higher transaction volumes for XRP, -- as people may choose to rely on Ripple's cost-efficient technology even more during this period of economic volatility.
In other words, hiccups around global trade and economic uncertainty could be a headwind or a tailwind for XRP, depending on the specificity of the use case.
Image source: Getty Images.
Is XRP a good buy at $2?
I think XRP's recent price decline (and that of crypto more broadly) is reflective of a perplexed and reticent investment community. Given these dynamics, I think the current price of XRP could move significantly in any direction depending on how the tariff situation plays out.
To me, there are too many variables that could influence the price of XRP one way or the other right now. Although there is some real utility in XRP, I still see the asset as quite speculative. Its adoption is not as widespread as other payments infrastructure, and I don't necessarily see the ongoing sell-off as an opportunity to buy the dip. For these reasons, I'd pass on investing in XRP right now.
