Should You Buy XRP (Ripple) Below $1.50?

Cryptocurrencies have struggled this year due to several factors, including liquidations among long-term holders, a reversal of investor sentiment, and geopolitical and economic concerns. No token has been spared. The price of XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is down nearly 27% this year (as of March 12), and trades at about $1.38, as of this writing. Should investors buy XRP while it is less than $1.50?

Assessing the opportunity

As I've stated on numerous occasions, valuing any cryptocurrency is quite difficult. Cryptocurrencies do not generate earnings or free cash flow like traditional publicly traded stocks, so investors can't value them based on those metrics.

Image source: Getty Images.

In my mind, one of the best ways to evaluate tokens is to look at the utility on the network they operate on. XRP runs on a network that is a little less decentralized than some other blockchain networks. XRP's network has a unique node list, in which the majority of a group of validators, which the XRP community views as trustworthy, must agree on transactions for them to be included in new blocks.

Fewer validators make XRP's network quicker, and XRP can process as many as 1,500 transactions per second. Another unique thing about XRP is that it is closely related to and used by Ripple, the closely held company behind the token and network.

Ripple leverages the strong technical infrastructure of the XRP network, the XRP token, and its stablecoin, RLUSD, to enable companies and banks to quickly and efficiently conduct cross-border payments. Customers can collect, exchange, and make payments in just minutes in a range of fiat currencies and digital assets. With real-time liquidity, banks are not forced to put as many reserves in foreign accounts, providing them with additional flexibility with capital and liquidity.

Reece Merrick, Ripple managing director for the Middle East and Africa, recently said it is integrating XRP, the XRP Ledger, and RLUSD into a single global payments platform, so it can be a "definitive one-stop shop" for financial institutions.

Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse recently said in an interview that Ripple's platform is now processing trillions of dollars in cross-border volume. He has also said previously that he believes the company could eventually capture a double-digit percentage share of the $156 trillion cross-border payments opportunity. Garlinghouse also believes the "wild west" era of crypto has ended, and that the winners will now be those offering real-world utility.

In a post on X, Garlinghouse also said that artificial intelligence is becoming a "fundamental part of our products," particularly with real-time cash forecasting and liquidity management.

"2026 is shaping up to be another defining year," he added. "We're in the right markets with the right capabilities across payments, custody, liquidity and treasury management. There's a huge opportunity ahead, and we are making sure XRP is at the center of it."

Does Ripple's success automatically translate into a higher price for XRP?

I do believe that XRP's association and use in the growing Ripple ecosystem are ultimately advantages that few other tokens have. However, although things certainly sound optimistic at Ripple, it's still not quite clear to me how well it is penetrating the cross-border payments market. Furthermore, it's hard to know for certain whether Ripple's success translates into a higher price for XRP.

Logically, more use by customers on Ripple's platform, and therefore the XRP Ledger, would seemingly drive up demand for XRP. But investors should remember that cryptocurrencies remain highly volatile and don't always perform as expected. XRP also still has a huge token supply -- more than 61 billion -- in circulation, so it doesn't have the same attractive supply-and-demand dynamic as, say, Bitcoin, whose supply is capped at 21 million.

Ultimately, I do see strong potential in the Ripple ecosystem, so I think investors can buy XRP. However, I would keep positions smaller and more speculative for now, as there is simply a lot that investors cannot predict with any real certainty.

Bram Berkowitz has positions in Bitcoin and XRP. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.