XRP has soared nearly 400% in recent months but remains overvalued compared to traditional payment companies like PayPal and American Express.

Despite processing $57.7 billion in quarterly payment volume, RippleNet generates far less revenue than PayPal, for example.

At $2.20 or even $2.50, XRP still trades at speculative heights that ignore significant market risks and fundamental weaknesses.

10 stocks we like better than XRP ›

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) has been soaring over the last year. The cryptocurrency at the heart of the RippleNet international payment service nearly quadrupled in the last two months of 2024, boosted by the presidential election results and the end of a burdensome lawsuit. The coin jumped from $0.50 to $2.70 and rose even higher in 2025.

Having visited an all-time high of $3.56 in July, XRP backed down to $2.20 as of Nov. 6. Is it time to load up on this promising cryptocurrency while it’s trading below $2.50?

Image source: Getty Images.

In a word, the answer is no.

XRP may have retreated from even loftier prices, but it remains incredibly overpriced today.

If you look at RippleNet as a business operation, that service managed about $57.7 billion of total payment volume (TPV) in the quarter ending on Sept. 30, 2025. That’s impressive, but let’s put the numbers in context.

Fellow digital payment specialist **PayPal **(NASDAQ: PYPL) handled $458.1 billion of TPV in the same period. It’s unclear how much money the Ripple group made from these transactions, but RippleNet is known for its low fees and quick transactions. It’s safe to say that XRP generated far less revenue than PayPal’s $8.4 billion. Yet, Ripple’s valuation based on early funding rounds is comparable to PayPal’s, and XRP’s market value is more than three times as large.

You could argue that XRP is worth what buyers think it’s worth and nothing else. The same line of thinking may apply to every cryptocurrency, not to mention gold or real estate. XRP’s current price might make sense from this point of view, but it’s a flimsy argument.

The other assets I mentioned are useful or at least desirable things. Their exact prices are set by semi-random market forces, but in a range defined by supply and demand. There’s only so much gold in the world, and plots of land can be incredibly valuable in heavily developed business centers like New York City, Paris, or Singapore.

And Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) mimics the valuation calculus of gold with a strict supply side limit and very expensive mining operations. Gold miners invest time and money in finding and refining physical gold; Bitcoin miners invest in number-crunching hardware and massive electric bills to make new digital coins.