After surging by more than 500% between Trump’s November election win and January’s presidential inauguration, XRP (XRP) has been subjected to volatility throughout the rest of 2025. The cross-border payments-focused coin’s price has swung between lows of $1.79 and highs of $3.59 and currently sits in between at ~$2.84.
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That rollercoaster brings up the question: can the token sustain another rally into year’s end, or are we more likely to see a retracement of those earlier gains?
According to top investor Anders Bylund, who’s ranked among the top 1% of stock pickers on TipRanks, both the bulls and the bears have cases to present here.
On one hand, the bullish camp sees plenty to cheer about. They point to catalysts such as the RLUSD stablecoin, which is backed by XRP, and the potential approval of the first XRP ETFs. The Trump administration’s crypto-friendly stance further strengthens the case. It’s not hard to imagine a very different scenario if the election outcome had gone another way – XRP might still be bogged down in its drawn-out fight with the SEC.
Yet, the skeptics argue the market is already pricing in too much optimism. XRP’s $168 billion market cap, they note, is difficult to square with the network’s underlying economics. RippleNet – Ripple’s global payments platform designed to move money instantly and cheaply – recently processed 674,000 transactions in a single day, worth $713 million. Annualized, that equates to around $260 billion in payments volume. On paper, it looks impressive, but digging deeper reveals a problem. Fees generated from those transactions amounted to just 691 XRP, or about $1,900. Annualized, RippleNet’s revenue from transaction fees would barely top $700,000.
“That’s…not a lot,” observes Bylund. Ripple no doubt collects income through other channels, but as a private company, its full financials remain opaque. Judged purely on these figures, the $168 billion valuation looks stretched.
Even so, Bylund remains constructive on the long-term opportunity. International money transfers remain costly and cumbersome, leaving the industry ripe for disruption. Traditional systems suffer from bureaucracy and high fees, while XRP offers a speedier, cheaper alternative that could ultimately reshape global finance.
However, there’s a catch, or several, actually, that make achieving that goal far from straightforward. Bylund thinks rival cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies could capture market share, while traditional banks might roll out their own digital payment systems. Unified global rules could also erode RippleNet’s early edge, and it remains to be seen whether XRP can truly scale to billions of users worldwide.
So, while XRP shows potential, the process isn’t without risks and at current levels it demands caution.
“The incredibly generous price premium you see today is a bit much,” says Bylund. “If anything, XRP could use a quick price correction to account for a plethora of business risks.”
Therefore, a modest investment could make sense to stay “connected to its developing business case,” but the investor doesn’t think there’s much sense in making large commitments at this stage. Yet, if a “hair-raising price correction shows up,” that would be the time to seriously reconsider that stance. (To watch Bylund’s track record, click here)
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured investor. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.