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Morningstar says the cryptocurrency market could expand 10% annually in the next decade.
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XRP will thrive if more banks and payment service providers use it for cross-border transactions and currency exchanges.
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Several spot XRP ETFs are waiting SEC approval, and those funds could unlock demand among retail and institutional investors.
The cryptocurrency market is currently worth about $3 trillion. Th market produced a total return of 72% (about 20% annually) during the past three years. Morningstar analysts expect the market to reach $7.8 trillion by the end of 2034, a sensible estimate that implies a total return of 160% in the next decade (about 10% annually).
Applying that estimate to XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), which currently trades at about $2.20, suggests a price of $5.75 by early 2035. But XRP has typically produced better gains than the broader market — for instance, its price climbed 270% during the past three years — and that trend will likely continue given its standing as the fourth-most-valuable cryptocurrency.
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Here’s my prediction: XRP will hit $7.50 by early 2035. That implies a total return of 240% (13% annually) during the next decade. But reaching that target will require increased adoption by banks and payment service providers as well as greater demand among retail and institutional investors.
Here’s why those things could happen.
XRP is the native cryptocurrency on the XRP Ledger, a blockchain designed by Ripple to make cross-border payments and currency exchanges faster and cheaper. Today, most international payments move through the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system, but that typically involves one or more intermediaries that make transactions costly and time consuming.
Ripple eliminates that friction. Its payments platform uses XRP and the stablecoin Ripple USD to settle cross-border transactions and foreign currency exchanges in seconds, typically at a much lower cost than traditional solutions like the SWIFT system. Although fewer than 200 institutions use the platform today, the number could rise as banks and fintechs become more familiar with blockchain technology.
Retail and institutional investors have become increasingly comfortable with digital assets, especially the highly visible ones like XRP. But cryptocurrency exchanges are still a source of friction for many potential market participants. Not only do platforms like Coinbase require separate accounts, but they generally charge high transaction and custody fees.