Bitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) is the world's largest cryptocurrency

The world's largest cryptocurrency, (CRYPTO: BTC) is currently valued at $1.8 trillion, which is more than half of the total capitalization of all coins and tokens in circulation across the entire industry. It's in high demand from a growing number of investors, who view it as a legitimate store of value, which could pave the way for significant upside over the long term.

On the other hand,(CRYPTO: XRP) was created by a company called Ripple to standardize transactions within its global payments network. Therefore, unlike most cryptocurrencies, it has an actual purpose in the real world, which could drive its value higher over time.

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Bitcoin and XRP delivered returns of 119% and 235% last year, respectively, but with 2025 now in full swing, which one might be the better buy?

The case for XRP: A changing of the guard at the SEC

The Ripple Payments network is designed to help global banks settle transactions with one another directly, which eliminates the need for intermediaries, so money flows across borders instantly.

Ripple created XRP to give banks an opportunity to standardize those transactions -- it costs just 0.00001 XRP (a fraction of $0.01) to send a cross-border transfer, so it's much cheaper than sending fiat currencies, which can attract large foreign-exchange fees.

XRP has a total supply of 100 billion tokens; 58.4 billion are in circulation, whereas Ripple controls the other 41.6 billion and releases them gradually to meet demand. Since the company is effectively an issuer, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued it in 2020, arguing XRP should be classified as a financial security, like a stock or a bond.

If the SEC prevailed in court, Ripple would have been forced to change its business model or operate under a very strict regulatory framework. But in August 2024, a judge ruled that XRP might only be a security in some circumstances, like when it's issued to banks, but not when it's used in transfers or traded on crypto exchanges.

Ripple was fined $125 million as part of the verdict, but investors viewed the outcome as a win. The SEC appealed the decision, but the agency's new leadership under the Trump administration has paused the case with the intention of reaching a settlement.

Things could get even better for Ripple because the SEC's new chairman, Paul Atkins,, was sworn in last Monday, April 21.

Prior to accepting the top job, Atkins served as the co-chairman of a crypto advocacy organization called the Token Alliance, and he was an advisory board member at Securitize, a company that helps tokenize real assets on the blockchain to make them more investable. Put briefly, he is likely to support innovative crypto companies like Ripple rather than stand in their way.

The case for Bitcoin: A reliable store of value

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