Ripple, the fintech company behind the XRP Ledger, valued its private equity at $50 billion during an employee share buyback in March 2026. This valuation exceeds the market capitalization of Coinbase as of September 11, highlighting a significant divergence between the corporate entity and its native cryptocurrency, XRP. Despite Ripple's growth as a payments provider, the XRP token has not mirrored this financial success.
Ripple operates as a private company that provides blockchain and crypto solutions to businesses, primarily through its payments network. This network utilizes the XRP Ledger to facilitate cross-border payments in three to five seconds with fees of less than $0.01. While the company reported surpassing 300 customers in 2019, banks can utilize Ripple's infrastructure without employing XRP. Only a limited number of institutions, including SBI Remit and Travelex Bank, are confirmed to use the token directly.
The utility of XRP extends beyond transaction fees on the XRPL, where it also serves as on-demand liquidity and a bridge currency for international transfers. The ledger further supports decentralized finance applications and the tokenization of real-world assets. However, market data indicates that XRPL is not a leading platform in these sectors. According to DefiLlama, the total value locked in DeFi protocols on the XRPL is under $50 million, placing it behind 40 other blockchains. In comparison, Ethereum holds approximately $50 billion in TVL, while Solana holds about $6 billion.
In the real-world asset tokenization sector, XRPL ranks 10th with roughly $460 million in distributed RWAs. This figure trails significantly behind Ethereum, which holds $17 billion in total value. It is difficult to foresee XRPL gaining substantial market share in DeFi or RWAs given its primary focus on payments.
XRP currently maintains one of the five largest cryptocurrency market capitalizations, valued at $85 billion. The analysis suggests that for an investment thesis to be compelling, XRP would need to achieve a 10-bagger to reach $850 billion, a valuation milestone currently held only by Bitcoin. The source characterizes this trajectory as unrealistic given the token's current position and the availability of alternative cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Solana for DeFi and RWA exposure.