XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) was one of the hottest cryptocurrencies in January 2025

In January 2025, XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) was one of the hottest cryptocurrencies on the planet. At one point, XRP was up nearly 600%

January 2025 saw some cryptocurrency prices surging to highs, while others stalled out. One surprising pick that performed well in the first half of the year was XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), which shot up nearly 600% at one point. It was also one of the cryptocurrency stocks that analysts were expecting to see applied for a U.S. ETF listing this year.

What happened with XRP in 2024?After the 2024 presidential election, XRP was one of the hottest cryptocurrency stocks on the market. At one point, the token was up nearly 600% from its lows, and it helped to usher in a new bull market for cryptocurrencies.

For more than four years, the SEC tried to classify XRP as a "security," which would have huge implications for the future of the cryptocurrency sector in the U.S. However, given the pro-crypto approach of the Trump administration and the claims being made by the SEC, it was no surprise to see the agency backing away from its claims.

This case has now been closed, and the legal battle against Ripple (the company behind the XRP token) has come to an end.

This development opens the door for massive new expansion and growth at Ripple, especially within the U.S. market. It's a big reason why the price of XRP skyrocketed in value after the 2024 election, as investors were already beginning to price in the upside potential for XRP under a crypto-friendly administration.

Earlier in the year, XRP appeared to be a frontrunner as the next cryptocurrency to gain SEC approval for a new spot ETF. Only two other cryptocurrencies -- Bitcoin and Ethereum -- have spot ETFs, so XRP would be in some pretty exclusive company.

A new spot ETF would open the door for a much broader range of retail and institutional investors to buy XRP, helping to push up its price over time. However, given the current tariff uncertainty, it looks like the SEC won't be approving any new spot ETFs until the end of 2025 at the earliest.

But even if the ETF catalyst doesn't work out as planned, there are other potential catalysts for XRP. One of the most exciting of these involves stablecoins, which have become a $200 billion industry.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that are pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, and backed by cash and cash equivalents. They're important because they are the bridge between the worlds of traditional finance (which needs physical dollars) and decentralized finance (which needs digital dollars).

At the end of 2024, Ripple launched a stablecoin of its own called Ripple USD (CRYPTO: RLUSD). The thinking was that Ripple USD would help spur growth of the XRP payment network. Currently, the primary use case for XRP is making cheap, fast cross-border payments. But if XRP has a companion stablecoin, then Ripple can start to offer all sorts of new financial products and services featuring XRP.

It all sounds great, but unfortunately, Ripple USD hasn't grown quite as quickly as expected.

To help accelerate the process, Ripple recently launched a $5 billion acquisition bid for Circle, the company behind the much bigger USDC (CRYPTO: USDC) stablecoin. That bid has now been rejected, but the current speculation is that Ripple could soon raise its bid to $20 billion for Circle. Stablecoins have become a big business, and Ripple wants to be part of it.

How high can XRP go in 2050?If there's any cryptocurrency that's prone to wild, pie-in-the-sky forecasts, it's XRP. It's incredibly easy to find price forecasts for XRP above $10, and even above the $100 price mark. There are even some AI-powered predictions suggesting that XRP could skyrocket above $500 by 2050.

It's worth noting that the all-time high for XRP is just $3.84, and that occurred in 2018.

Yes, XRP came close to regaining that all-time high in January, but other than that, it has never come close. If you take a look at a long-term chart for XRP, you'll notice that it's fairly unremarkable, aside from the massive price spikes in 2018 and 2024.

For XRP to hit a price above $10 by 2030, it would likely require a massive surge in institutional adoption. And I mean massive.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, for example, has suggested that the XRP payment network might eventually challenge SWIFT as the premier cross-border payment network in the world.

As Garlinghouse recently pointed out in a Fox Business interview, SWIFT is based on 50-year-old technology. So Ripple has the potential to offer