Should You Buy XRP (AKA Ripple) While It’s Under $1?

The crypto market has been red hot lately. Every major crypto name that isn’t a stablecoin has made significant gains in the last month. At the time of this writing, Bitcoin (BTC -2.29%) has gained 43% in 30 days, while Cronos (CRO 3.01%) more than doubled and Dogecoin (DOGE -6.36%) more than tripled.

But XRP (XRP 12.99%) didn’t get the memo about this exciting crypto market sprint. The digital coin, also known as Ripple, is up just 30% over the same period and is trading just under $0.70.

Is this a good time to invest in XRP and the accompanying RippleNet payment service, or will the coin continue to play second fiddle to the faster growing cryptocurrencies?

Why XRP’s market performance stands out

There is a clear disconnect between XRP and the crypto market as a whole. Most of the leading cryptocurrencies tend to rise and fall in unison, led by Bitcoin’s dominant market cap. Even meme coins like Dogecoin belong in this bundle of related crypto names, except when they either float or crash for silly reasons.

But XRP travels on a different plane. Bitcoin has doubled in 2024, but XRP is back exactly where it started this year. The cryptocurrency’s chart can make sharp turns unrelated to any other digital coin or token, typically inspired by the events in a New York courtroom.

Legal challenges are shaping XRP’s investment trajectory

You know what I’m talking about. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against the Ripple Labs organization and its executives four years ago, accusing them of selling unregistered securities in XRP’s early days. This lawsuit made XRP unavailable to US investors for two and a half years and damaged the investment market’s confidence in XRP. So the Ripple-backed cryptocurrency keeps jumping on good legal news and falling when things don’t go so well.

The funny thing is that XRP has ended up lagging behind the broader crypto market, even though most rulings fell in the organization’s favor. Furthermore, the RippleNet platform for international payments is a proven tool with significant real-world value, and investors do not give the underlying cryptocurrency the respect it deserves.

RippleNet’s role in building XRP’s value

The XRP Ledger processes more than 20 transactions per second and manages more than 500,000 payments and money transfers every day. The recent addition of automated market makers (AMM) has increased the amount of liquidity available to the system. In other words, RippleNet is a fully functional and very active money transfer system today.

And I’m not surprised to see the Ripple service gaining traction. In addition to the fast payment processing, it also handles cross-border money transfers with low fees and a minimum of hassle. As a Swedish-American immigrant with occasional side gigs managed in places like the UK and Lithuania, I have some experience with slow and expensive overseas payments. Ripple solves most of these problems, making the functional XRP token valuable in a very practical way.

The digital way forward

Litigation is always unpredictable, although the Ripple side has seen more wins than losses in this legal duel with the SEC.

Whether the final outcome is positive or downright brutal for XRP and its investors, putting that battle in the rearview mirror should be a big step forward. Investors hate uncertainty, especially in volatile and unknown markets such as cryptocurrencies. Chasing away the grim legal albatross can only be good for XRP’s long-term value.

I’m not sure if that release will come soon enough to let XRP ride the next Bitcoin rally, but it really doesn’t matter. Buying XRP tokens at around $0.70 each in 2024 could result in market gains over the next decade and beyond. I own more XRP than Bitcoin because the token looks deeply undervalued in light of the booming and growing payment service.