Is This Cryptocurrency a Potential Millionaire-Maker?
Key Points
For XRP to become a millionaire-maker, it would likely need to deliver 1,000x gains to investors.
As soon as XRP hits a price of $10, it will begin to approach the market cap of Bitcoin.
For XRP to hit a price of $1,000, it would need to become the most valuable financial asset on the planet, which is highly unlikely.
- 10 stocks we like better than XRP ›
For years, XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) has captivated crypto investors with its potential for creating life-changing wealth. Since it started trading in 2013, XRP is up a truly mind-boggling 23,000%.
Some investors think XRP still has much higher to go. XRP is currently trading for just over $1, but some think it could soar as high as $100 or even $1,000. If that's the case, then XRP could be a millionaire-maker, given its potential for exponential gains.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Does the math work?
To determine whether XRP is a real millionaire-maker, it's important to check that the math works. To turn a modest $1,000 upfront investment into $1 million, for example, XRP would need to deliver 1,000x gains.
Unfortunately, that's not very realistic. Right now, XRP has a market cap of approximately $80 billion. If it were to soar in value by a factor of 1,000x, then it would have an implied market cap of $80 trillion. That's nearly 50x the current market cap of Bitcoin. It's 6.5x the combined market cap of Nvidia, Apple, and Space Exploration Technologies. In short, $80 trillion is a big number.
Image source: Getty Images.
At one time, investors thought Ripple, the company behind the XRP token, might find enough use cases for XRP to justify such a valuation. However, it's no longer clear that XRP has the type of catalyst that can generate those 1,000x gains, especially with the failure of comprehensive crypto legislation (the Clarity Act) to pass in Washington, D.C.
Making matters worse, stablecoins are now taking on some of XRP's roles and functionality, which is really just a bridge currency. Even Ripple realizes this, and has been promoting the use of Ripple USD, a stablecoin that it launched in December 2024 as a potential alternative to XRP.
The one factor keeping a lid on XRP's price
There's one factor that makes any 100x or 1,000x price gains extremely unrealistic for XRP: a lifetime token supply of 100 billion. On a fully diluted valuation (FDV) basis, XRP becomes a $1 trillion asset as soon as it hits a price of $10. For XRP to go any higher, it would need to soar past Bitcoin in market cap, and that's not going to happen anytime soon.
For that reason, I'm eliminating XRP from my list of potential millionaire-maker cryptocurrencies. It might be able to generate 10x gains for investors, but a climb beyond that is just too unlikely. The big gains in XRP have already been made over the past decade, and it's time to look elsewhere for upside.
Should you buy stock in XRP right now?
Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $370,440!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,330,110!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 924% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 212% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 22, 2026.
Dominic Basulto has positions in Bitcoin and XRP. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Bitcoin, Nvidia, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
