Of the thousands of cryptocurrencies that have been created, many of those have proven useless, but XRP (XRP 3.61%) seems to be one of the few exceptions. It's also been one of the more rewarding coins over the 12 months, up over 430% in that time.
Considering the huge run-up in the past year, it's natural to think that it might be too late to buy XRP. However, its use case means there's still time.
Image source: Getty Images.
XRP was created with the purpose of making cross-border transactions quicker and much cheaper by removing the intermediaries that are usually involved when sending money through traditional financial institutions. What could cost someone 5% to 7% of the amount sent and potentially take hours or days, XRP can do for fractions of a cent and almost instantly.
The reason it's not too late to buy XRP is because of the expected growth of the cross-border payment market. According to Allied Market Research, the global cross-border payments market is expected to grow from roughly $206 trillion at the end of 2024 to around $414 trillion by 2034.
In the grand scheme, XRP is a very small player, and there will be many hands in the pot, but it's a huge enough market that even an extremely small piece of the pie or adoption could work out in XRP's favor. Even with its potential, it's crucial to understand how volatile XRP and cryptocurrencies in general can be. Even if you're interested in the coin and believe in its long-term potential, I would make it a minimal part of your overall portfolio (around 1%).
