Investors love to discuss both XRP(XRP) and Cardano(ADA),
even though they're quite different. While one aims to be a perfectly
engineered and smart-contract-capable blockchain for general-purpose
use, the other -- XRP -- is intent on becoming a financial platform
targeted at banks, currency exchange houses, and hedge funds, among
other players.
Nonetheless, only one of these two coins has gained in value over the
last three years. So which one is going to be the better pick for
purchasing today and holding through early 2029?
Image source: Getty Images.
XRP has traction, but token demand is a real question
For XRP to grow over the coming years, it needs to succeed in getting
more financial institutions to onboard their capital to its chain --
the XRP Ledger (XRPL) -- so that they'll need to buy, hold, and consume
plenty of XRP on a regular basis.
Of particular importance will be onboarding tokenized capital, which
is financial instruments like bonds or funds whose ownership is tracked
on a blockchain. Today, XRPL has $453 million in tokenized assets on its
chain that can be traded. All of that value has arrived incredibly
quickly throughout late 2025 and early 2026; a year ago, there was less
than $80 million in tokenized assets on the chain in total.
So, XRP is a coin intended for use by financial organizations, and at
least some of them appear to be using it for its intended purpose.
It's also exposed to capital inflows via XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Those ETFs hold more than $1.1 billion in capital as of March 6, and
they ensure that investors don't need to have an on-chain wallet to get
exposure to the coin's price appreciation.
Cardano is building for a future that keeps arriving late
Cardano isn't intended for financial institutions specifically, but
its design is still quite serious. The network's signature is its
emphasis on intentional and academic software development practices,
including peer-reviewed code and reliance on formal governance
processes.
Its development roadmap for 2030 calls for the chain to onboard a
total of $3 billion in assets deposited in a chain's decentralized
financial (DeFi) apps, as well as at least 1 million monthly active
wallets, and 324 million annual transactions. Currently, it has around
$138 million in DeFi assets on its chain, with daily fees totaling
roughly $1,900, and just over 17,000 addresses active per day. So its
ambitions are very far ahead of its actual capital holdings as well as
its on-chain activity.
More importantly, its
ecosystem has been essentially a backwater for as long as it has
existed. Despite years of developing new features, and an intentional
effort late last year to add some stablecoin liquidity
to the network to stimulate new activity, those efforts just haven't
yielded a significant amount of new users or new capital. And that makes
it hard to believe that it'll succeed in what it sets out to do with
its plan for 2030.
Therefore, XRP is by far the better choice to buy and hold for three
years with $1,500. It's already gaining traction, and it already has a
track record of success in launching new features to expedite the
process.
It’s called ‘5 Stocks for Trying to Build Wealth After 50’. And it’s yours, free.
Of course, the decade ahead looks hazardous. What with rampant
inflation, a ‘cost of living crisis’ and war in Ukraine, knowing where
to invest has never been trickier. And yet, with so many shares below recent highs, there are also potential opportunities to strike.
That’s why now could be an ideal time to secure this valuable investment research.
Mark’s ‘Foolish’ analysts have scoured the markets low and high.
This special report reveals 5 of his favourite long-term ‘Buys’.
Please, don’t make any big decisions before seeing them.
Alex Carchidi has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Image source: Getty Images.
