Could XRP Be the Next Bitcoin?

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), the native cryptocurrency of the XRP Ledger, is a divisive token. The bulls believe it will rally as it clears its regulatory hurdles, attracts more institutional investors, and becomes more widely used to settle payments on Ripple's platform. The bears will point out that it is neither scarce nor useful on its own, and stablecoins might cannibalize it.

So could XRP silence its critics and eventually become the next Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC)? Or will it succumb to its existential challenges and fade away with the other smaller altcoins?

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What's the bull case for XRP?

The founders of Ripple, a fintech company specializing in blockchain-based payments, created the XRP Ledger and the XRP token in 2012. They used XRP as a bridge currency to settle fiat currency transfers faster and more cheaply than conventional SWIFT transfers.

However, the SEC sued Ripple in 2020 after the company sold some of its own XRP holdings to fund its expansion. That lawsuit, which alleged Ripple was selling unlicensed securities, cost the company some of its top customers and drove the top crypto exchanges to delist XRP.

But in 2025, that lawsuit concluded with a lighter-than-expected fine for Ripple and a ruling that XRP wasn't an unlicensed security when sold to retail investors. Ripple gained more customers again, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) conditionally approved its application for a U.S. banking license, and the SEC even approved XRP's first spot price ETFs.

The bulls believe those catalysts will drive XRP higher as Ripple's fintech ecosystem expands, it locks in more banking and digital payment partners, and more of those clients use XRP instead of SWIFT to settle their fiat currency transfers.

What's the bear case against XRP?

XRP faces three fundamental problems. First, it faces competition from stablecoins -- including Ripple's own Ripple USD (CRYPTO: RLUSD) -- which are pegged to the U.S. dollar. That stability makes them more appealing than XRP's volatile tokens as bridge currencies.

Second, XRP's developers minted its entire supply of 100 billion tokens before its market debut. They haven't released all those tokens from XRP's escrow system yet, but it can't really be valued by its scarcity in the same way as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). Lastly, the XRP Ledger doesn't natively support smart contracts, which are used to develop decentralized apps, so it can't be valued as a developer-oriented token like Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).

Could XRP be the next Bitcoin?

XRP's future relies on it becoming a stable bridge currency, and that can't happen if its price slumps or skyrockets from year to year. While it won't fade away anytime soon, I doubt it will come anywhere close to becoming a blue chip cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Ether.

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.