Ripple is rising strongly with the "cryptocurrency investment boom." Is surpassing Ethereum in market value just a matter of time?

Former Goldman Sachs analyst Dom Kwok predicts that Ripple (XRP) may soon surpass Ethereum to become the second largest cryptocurrency asset in the crypto market, second only to Bitcoin, which has a market cap of $2 trillion. This prediction has caused quite a stir in the global cryptocurrency community. Analyst Kwok points out that since Trump won the US presidential election in November 2024, Ripple's performance has been remarkable, with gains surpassing the cryptocurrency benchmark and far exceeding Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are ranked ahead of it. As of January 21, 2025, Ripple's total market cap is around $175 billion, while Ethereum's total market cap is around $388 billion. Assuming Ethereum's market cap remains unchanged, Ripple would need to rise by about 120% to surpass Ethereum, reaching around $7.07 per token. While this requires a significant increase from the current trading price of Ripple, the positive growth momentum in recent months has led some cryptocurrency enthusiasts to speculate about this potential outcome. The former Goldman Sachs analyst attributes Ripple's recent sharp price increase to several key factors, particularly the growing market interest in digitizing real-world assets through the XRP Ledger. This development could make Ripple the preferred cryptocurrency platform for decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions for financial institutions. Analyst Kwok even commented, "Are you ready to embrace the new world order?" implying that such a significant event in the cryptocurrency world will bring about groundbreaking changes. Kwok has long supported Ripple's potential for future growth, and his latest comments have only increased cryptocurrency investors' attention to Ripple's ecosystem's growing potential. Additionally, in the eyes of this former Goldman Sachs analyst, the increasingly favorable regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies in the US has significantly enhanced their investment appeal, especially as the US Securities and Exchange Commission may approve more cryptocurrency ETF types for trading on the US stock market, and with the increasing acceptance of underlying blockchain technology by US companies. These factors have collectively contributed to a significant increase in Ripple's trading price. Since November 2024, amid a new wave of "cryptocurrency investment frenzy" sparked by Trump's victory, Ripple's trading price has soared by 351%, leaving a very strong impression on cryptocurrency investors. Trump has repeatedly emphasized his desire to make the US the "crypto capital" and a "Bitcoin superpower," and his and the new US government cabinet members' support for Bitcoin is driving global funds to increasingly demand this country's digital asset type funds (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs) and cryptocurrency derivative contracts. How is Ripple different from Ethereum? Ripple (XRP) is a digital token developed by Ripple Labs, aiming to facilitate fast, secure, and low-cost transfers in the global payment system. Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, XRP does not rely on traditional "mining" mechanisms to validate transactions but uses a consensus algorithm called Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA). This algorithm does not require significant computational resources, allowing transactions to be completed more quickly and at lower costs. Specifically, Ripple is designed for cross-border payments and rapid settlements, aiming to provide financial institutions globally with a low-cost, fast, and efficient payment solution. In contrast to other cryptocurrencies, Ripple has very low transaction fees, making it suitable for large-scale cross-border payments. Therefore, Ripple's core goal is to meet the fast cross-border payment needs of traditional financial institutions, rather than individual investment needs. In contrast, Ethereum is an open-source blockchain platform designed to support decentralized applications (DApps) and smart contracts. Ethereum is not just a cryptocurrency (ETH); it provides a decentralized computing platform that can run code. Smart contracts enable users to transact directly without intermediaries, with contract execution entirely dependent on code execution, not third-party trust. Therefore, Ethereum is a versatile blockchain platform that supports smart contracts and DApps, with applications ranging from decentralized finance (DeFi) to NFTs and decentralized organizations (DAOs). Compared to Ripple, Ethereum has longer transaction confirmation times (approximately 10-20 seconds on Ethereum 1.0) and higher transaction fees, especially in times of network congestion, which may result in extremely high fees. Ripple's core advantage lies in the field of cross-border payments. Its low transaction fees and fast transaction confirmations give it strong market potential in the financial industry, particularly for online banks and digital payment networks. Ripple has the potential to become the infrastructure for global payments. Ethereum, on the other hand, focuses on decentralized applications and smart contracts. Ripple is increasingly favored by cryptocurrency investors For some cryptocurrency enthusiasts, the internal trend of the cryptocurrency market towards a faster, more efficient, and low-cost payment network makes the prospect of Ripple surpassing Ethereum in market value clearer. Investors are gradually leaning towards digital token projects that offer tangible and practical use cases. Ripple's infrastructure is well-suited to meet the growing demand for digitized assets in the financial market, and the continued development of its digital ecosystem and expanding partnerships have bolstered people's confidence in the trajectory of this digital token. Ripple was specifically designed for cross-border payments and rapid settlements, aiming to provide financial institutions globally with a low-cost, fast, and efficient payment solution, particularly in the field of cross-border payments. Ripple uses the Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA), a protocol that does not rely on miners but achieves consensus through nodes, enabling fast and low-cost transactions through this mechanism. In summary, Ripple's focus on cross-border payments and its efficient and cost-effective payment solutions make it an attractive option for financial institutions, while Ethereum's versatility in supporting DApps and smart contracts appeals to a broader range of decentralized applications and organizations.Transaction verification provides fast transaction confirmation and can operate at very low costs.Due to the rapid transactions and extremely low transaction fees of Ripple, it has the potential to become the preferred digital token tool among global financial institutions, banks, and payment platforms, especially in cross-border payments. Compared to traditional payment systems like SWIFT, Ripple offers a more efficient and low-cost alternative. Ripple has already established cross-border payment partnerships with multiple banks globally, laying a solid foundation for the future development of Ripple. However, in order to surpass Ethereum in market value comprehensively, Ripple still needs to achieve significant growth and maintain the momentum of continuous expansion of coverage. Ethereum continues to dominate the cryptocurrency field with its wide decentralized adoption cases and strong blockchain developer community. Nevertheless, Ripple's rapid rise, coupled with the ongoing challenges faced by Ethereum such as excessively high gas fees and scalability issues, has made Ripple an increasingly strong competitor. Ripple's highly efficient transaction processing capabilities and low-cost consensus algorithm transactions may become its major selling points, further driving its rise.