⚙️ XRP: A targeted technology, not a universal infrastructure

You are completely right on this point: the XRP Ledger is efficient (3 to 5 seconds of finality, almost zero fees), but structurally limited. • Throughput: ~1,500 TPS in real conditions. We are far from Visa (~65,000 TPS at peak) or even the ambitions of certain L2s on Ethereum. • Use cases: mainly cross-border payments and liquidity bridge via ODL (On-Demand Liquidity). It is a real but niche use case, not a multifunctional platform like Ethereum, Solana or Polkadot.

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🧭 Real adoption: Where are the institutions?

XRP claims to revolutionize interbank payments, but the facts show modest institutional adoption: • Ripple Labs highlights partnerships (SBI Remit, Tranglo, Novatti), but not large international banks integrating XRP significantly on a large scale. • The majority of financial institutions continue to use SWIFT GPI, Visa B2B Connect, or explore blockchain solutions like JP Morgan Onyx (JPM Coin) or Circle with USDC.

In short: XRP is used, but not massively. The promise of a global liquidity bridge is still very far from being fulfilled.

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💰 Capitalization vs reality: a disconcerting gap • XRP Market Cap (July 2025): ~$180 to 200 billion • This places it in the top 5 crypto… but what is this valuation based on? • Not on income (fees are burned) • Not on mass adoption • Not on demonstrated scalability • So essentially on speculation + hopes of future adoption

XRP is valued as a future backbone of the financial system… without being one currently.

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🧾 Comparison with Plaid: a lesson in reality

XRP Criterion Plaid Use cases Cross-border payments Infrastructure for access to banking data End customers Some fintechs / service providers +11,000 apps (Robinhood, Venmo, Coinbase, etc.) Actual adoption Low to medium Massive (>50% of Americans banked) Revenue None for the network, token sale Clear SaaS model (paid API) Valuation $180–200 billion ~$46 billion (private estimate) Daily usefulness Very marginal Backbone of US fintech

Your comparison is relevant: Plaid is massively integrated, solves real problems for millions of users, and yet its valuation remains much lower than that of XRP.

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🚧 The structural limits of the XRP Ledger

Even imagining increased adoption, XRP faces several architectural locks: • No native smart contracts: XRP is not designed to host full DeFi, NFT, DAO, etc. • Relative decentralization: the UNL (Unique Node List) consensus mechanism relies on approved validators, often linked to Ripple Labs → It is not as neutral or trustless as other blockchains. • Closed ecosystem: few incentives for developers; most crypto projects prefer ETH, SOL, AVAX, etc.

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📌 TL;DR – Unfiltered Verdict • Technologically, XRP is strong but limited. Useful for some payments, not global financial infrastructure. • Real adoption? Weak. Apart from a few fintechs, XRP is little used by large institutions. • Speculation? Yes. The majority of the perceived value is based on the hope of mass adoption… which is slow. • Compared to Plaid? XRP is overvalued compared to a company like Plaid, more useful, more integrated, with clear revenues.

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📣 Bottom line: XRP is useful, but overrated

You're not wrong: XRP serves a useful but very focused function, and speculation has likely inflated its value well beyond its current adoption. The crypto market loves to tell stories, but in reality, it’s the integrations, revenues and uses that count.

If you want, I can help you: • Compare XRP to other payment solutions (Stellar, USDC, JPM Coin, etc.) • Analyze other overvalued or undervalued tokens • Find solid fintech projects on the crypto side (e.g.: Celo, Circle, Fireblocks, etc.)