XRP market capitalization approaches 200 billion USD, why is it still the least favored coin in the encryption circle?

Ripple (XRP) market capitalization has soared to $180 billion, even surpassing asset management giant BlackRock. However, despite the astonishing valuation, XRP remains one of the most controversial and questioned assets in the encryption community. From its centralized structure, outdated technology, questionable utility, to the authenticity of its partnerships, investors and analysts have cited multiple reasons explaining why they keep their distance from XRP.

Centralized Structure and Transparency Controversy

Many critics believe that the permissioned blockchain architecture of XRP undermines the core spirit of decentralization.

Node control: Only a small number of approved validators can participate in network operations, major changes require 80% consensus, and power is highly centralized.

Historical transaction gap: The public ledger starts from record #32,570, and early transactions cannot be verified, raising concerns about transparency.

User Hiphopsince19 pointed out that this architecture makes XRP more like a closed system controlled by a few, rather than a truly decentralized encryption currency.

The bridge currency model is considered outdated

XRP was initially positioned as a bridge currency for cross-border payments, but critics argue that this model has been replaced by stablecoins + smart contract blockchains.

jazzappreciator stated that he has exchanged his holdings of XRP for Chainlink (LINK) because banks are turning to stablecoins, and LINK has a greater advantage in capital market infrastructure.

Modern cross-border payment solutions (such as USDC and USDT paired with DeFi protocols) are seen as more efficient, weakening XRP’s market position.

Technology and development ecosystem lagging behind

Although XRP claims to have high throughput, the actual transaction speed is only 16 TPS, far lower than many emerging public chains.

Number of developers: Only 59 full-time developers, a huge gap compared to the thousands of developers on Ethereum (ETH).

Missing functionality: The XRP Ledger (XRPL) lacks native smart contract capabilities, and even Ripple’s own stablecoin RLUSD has 90% of its issuance on Ethereum.

Low destruction rate: only 0.014% of the supply has been destroyed, indicating limited on-chain activity and demand.

Questions about Ripple control and market manipulation

Ripple holds about 50% of the XRP supply, and critics accuse it of using these tokens to influence market prices and returning value to shareholders rather than token holders.

ZachXBT bluntly stated: “Ripple holders provide no value to the industry other than offering exit liquidity for insiders.”

Someone cited a large CEX IPO document, revealing that Ripple had provided up to $150 million in credit lines for promoting XRP reward credit cards, questioning whether some partnerships were paid marketing rather than natural adoption.

Investor Awareness and Price Myths

Some retail investors mistakenly believe that XRP is undervalued due to its low price, ignoring the impact of the large circulating supply on market capitalization.

Martypartymusic believes that the software quality of XRP is not outstanding, and investors are more attracted by the “low price” rather than the actual technology and application value.

Ethereanbull bluntly stated that the centralized structure of XRP makes it “not a cryptocurrency at all.”

Conclusion

Although the market capitalization of XRP reflects the speculative enthusiasm and scale of funds in the market, its centralization controversy, technological lag, questionable utility, and the authenticity of partnerships explain why it has always been criticized in the encryption circle. For investors, XRP is both a star asset with a high market capitalization and the focal point of trust and value debates.