XRP (XRP 2.16%) investors got plenty of positive news last year. Ripple, the company that issues XRP, finally settled its lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for $125 million, much less than the $2 billion the SEC wanted. In November, the SEC approved the first spot XRP ETFs, opening up another way to invest in this cryptocurrency.
However, after a strong start to the year, XRP's price sank. It gave up all its returns and ended the year down 9%.
We've seen XRP bounce back from downturns before, and it has long-term growth potential as a cross-border payments solution. Now that you have the opportunity to buy the dip, could XRP be a millionaire maker? Let's find out.
The top half of the globe with a network stretching across it in blue lines.
XRP's role in the global payments market
Ripple launched the XRP Ledger (XRPL), a decentralized blockchain network, and the XRP cryptocurrency in 2012. It designed the XRPL as a fast, affordable way for financial institutions to transfer funds. Transaction settlement takes just three to five seconds, and fees are a fraction of $0.01, much cheaper and faster than sending Bitcoin.
The XRPL is the backbone of Ripple Payments, a global payments network. Over 300 banks across six continents have partnered with Ripple to use its network. Ripple's goal is to take a portion of the payments market from SWIFT, the current international money transfer system used by most banks.
In June 2025, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the XRPL could capture 14% of SWIFT's international payments volume in five years. At SWIFT's current volume of $150 trillion per year, that would be $21 trillion, which is a very ambitious goal.
CRYPTO: XRP
Key Data Points
XRP is the native cryptocurrency of the XRPL and is used to pay transaction fees on the blockchain. It also provides on-demand liquidity for Ripple's banking partners. Financial institutions can convert cross-border transfers to XRP, eliminating the need to maintain prefunded accounts with foreign currencies.
If usage of the XRPL and Ripple's on-demand liquidity service increases, it will drive demand for XRP, since the cryptocurrency is a crucial part of both.
The problem with XRP
XRP fills a valuable role with Ripple Payments, but that's just one of the services Ripple offers. Based on its recent moves, Ripple looks to be transitioning into a broader role as a financial services company. Last October, it acquired Hidden Road, a brokerage firm that it rebranded as Ripple Prime. In December, it received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to form a federally chartered trust bank.
Ripple has also launched Ripple USD, a U.S. dollar stablecoin. Like XRP, Ripple USD offers fast transactions that settle in three to five seconds with minuscule fees. But as a stablecoin, it's designed to maintain the same value, so it doesn't have XRP's volatility.
Ripple is branching out into areas where XRP isn't needed. Even in cross-border payments, banking partners can use Ripple's technology with fiat currency. They only need XRP if they use the on-demand liquidity feature, and most don't.
It's entirely possible that Ripple, and not XRP, is the real winner going forward. You can't invest in Ripple yet, as it's a private company. However, there has been speculation that it will announce an initial public offering (IPO) this year.
Will XRP make you a millionaire?
I'll assume a cryptocurrency needs to deliver 100x returns to be a millionaire-maker, meaning it turns a $10,000 investment into $1 million. Your assumptions may vary, but this is the kind of moonshot that many crypto investors are dreaming of. XRP's market cap is $115 billion as of Jan. 21. Those 100x returns would bring its total value to $11.5 trillion, nearly three times Alphabet's market cap, for comparison.
The odds of XRP doing that in the next decade are extremely low, but it could still be a successful investment. The global payments market is projected to reach $290 trillion by 2030, up from $190 trillion in 2023, according to FXC Intelligence. XRP has value as a bridge currency for cross-border payments, and the approval of XRP ETFs could also help it gain popularity with institutional investors.
You may want to consider a small position in XRP as a high-risk, high-reward investment. Just don't set your expectations too high. While it could outperform, as it has in the past, it's probably not a millionaire maker anymore.
