Is XRP (Ripple) a Buy for Less Than $5?

Key Points

• XRP is emerging as one of the most important financial institution-targeted blockchains.

• It could build on that reputation by winning in stablecoins or tokenized asset management.

• It's well positioned to continue to onboard more of its target users, even if the competition is strong.

• 10 stocks we like better than XRP ›

With XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) priced near $3, the debate about whether to buy the coin is a question of whether its maturing payments and asset tokenization stack could drive it to outperform during the next few years.

Right now, several long-running uncertainties are giving way to concrete catalysts. This asset probably won't be worth less than $5 for too much longer. But is it actually worth investing in today?

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The upside case keeps building

There are three reasons in particular that XRP is a smart option for investors to buy today, so long as they're willing to hold it through at least 2028.

First, regulatory clarity in the U.S. is better than it has been in years, and Ripple, the company that issues XRP, is finally in the clear. In August 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) case against Ripple concluded with the payment of a $125 million penalty, and an injunction around institutional sales. That removes a major risk for XRP and lets financial institutions assess the risk of using its ledger, the XRPL, with far fewer unknowns, which is ultimately likely to drive more adoption.

In parallel to the SEC case finally resolving, in 2024 Ripple acquired Standard Custody & Trust Company, a New York‑regulated crypto custodian, and in mid-2025 it applied for a U.S. national bank charter to expand its offerings of regulated services. Those steps show intent to serve compliance‑sensitive customers directly, and to capture their business and hold their assets on the XRPL.

Second, an important value-generating flywheel is forming around payments and stablecoins. XRPL's design keeps fees tiny and paid in XRP, which are burned on use. So, more activity on the chain incrementally tightens the coin's float available for public trading, even if fees are low per transaction.

Today's payments clients include those like SBI Remit's production remittances in Asia, which run on Ripple's infrastructure with XRP as the bridge asset, and others like Tranglo, which enable on‑demand liquidity across many other routes. Growing corridors mean more throughput and more reasons for institutions to hold settlement inventory on XRPL.

Furthermore, Ripple's dollar stablecoin, RLUSD (CRYPTO: RLUSD), recently launched on XRPL and Ethereum, and it's aimed at processing institutional transaction settlement and payments. As RLUSD grows and becomes a default settlement asset on XRPL, it will thus increase on‑chain volumes and liquidity.

Finally, asset tokenization is going to give XRP a plethora of durable jobs to do. The value of real‑world assets (RWAs) on chain is $308.7 million and rising, and XRPL already lists tokenized credit instruments and issuers with live projects. If the sector keeps growing, networks with strong regulatory compliance features, like XRPL, will have an edge in recruiting fresh capital inflows.

What could go wrong

XRP probably won't be priced below $5 forever, but that doesn't mean its path toward that price level will be smooth.

Competition is one factor likely to make the road much longer than it might be otherwise. Ethereum's asset tokenization stack is dramatically ahead of XRP's, with $8.3 billion in total value, and high‑throughput chains are also pushing hard on payments. The same goes for stablecoin value parked on chain, where Ethereum's sum of $159.4 billion is nearly as large as XRP's entire market cap, and far beyond the $90.1 million in stables on its chain.

Nonetheless, assuming that today's product roadmap for XRP continues to develop, and its transaction volumes keep rising, the upside case is for more tokenized value and more settlements on XRPL to increase the reasons to hold working capital in the ecosystem, which in turn will increase the relevance of holding substantial quantities of XRP.

For long‑term investors, it is sensible to let the investment thesis for the coin play out over several years once you establish a position, and to revisit your holdings when new regulatory or product milestones clear. If the flywheels above keep spinning, buying under $5 can make sense as part of a diversified portfolio.

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Alex Carchidi has positions in Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.