TL;DR

XRP jumped 43% in a week, nearing its all-time high, with analysts eyeing $4–$8 targets amid rising adoption and US political shifts. One skeptic dismissed $100+ predictions as unrealistic due to market cap limits, calling XRP a distraction compared to Bitcoin (BTC).

XRP is a Distraction

Ripples XRP has been flying high in the past week. Its price jumped from $2.30 (on January 10) to almost $3.40 on January 16. Thus, the asset stood just 1% away from its all-time high registered at the start of 2018. Currently, XRP is worth approximately $3.31 (per CoinGeckos data), representing a staggering 43% increase on a seven-day scale.

XRP Price, Source: CoinGecko Key drivers behind the significant rally include increased whale activity, excitement over political shifts in the USA, rising network adoption, and others. For more insights, further details are available here.

The massive resurgence has given analysts the opportunity to speculate that the coins price may pump to unseen and even ridiculous levels. The popular X user EDO FARINA, for instance, said he would not sell his XRP holdings before the valuation reaches $100.

On the other hand, the Bitcoin proponent Rajat Soni claimed that such optimistic predictions come only from people with undiagnosed mental disability. The finance expert explained that XRPs potential price explosion to $100 would require its market capitalization to skyrocket to $10 trillion.

Sonis calculations are based on the total supply of XRP, which is almost 100 billion tokens. Multiplying the $100 price to the circulating supply of 57.5 billion coins will mean that the assets capitalization needs to soar above $5.5 trillion, which is still quite unrealistic (to say the least).

To put things into perspective, the entire market cap of the crypto industry is less than $4 trillion (as of press time). 

In addition, Soni said even bigger optimists suggest that XRPs valuation could reach the astonishing $1,000 per coin. 

XRP is a distraction. Stick to Bitcoin, he concluded.

Some Realistic Forecasts

While $100 per coin might indeed seem like an outrageous target, many analysts have recently set somewhat optimal predictions (considering XRPs bull run). 

One example is the X user CRYPTOWZRD, who believes the asset could be poised for a short-term rise to a new all-time high of $4 and then an increase to $8. 

Dark Defender also weighed in, envisioning a rally toward $3.6239 and $4.5503. XRP has some work to do, but we will get there soon, the analyst added.