There's a reason why XRP still has a $9b market cap despite it being "overvalued"

There's no doubt the XRP cryptocurrency has a dedicated fan base; heck, the cryptocurrency community has fittingly branded supporters of the asset the "XRP Army." But the altcoin has equally as many skeptics who believe the asset is intrinsically worthless, like how some see Bitcoin as an asset really worth $0. As reported by CryptoSlate previously, one crypto derivatives trader remarked that XRP's macro price chart looks eerily similar to the charts of technology companies that blew up over the past few decades.

This was echoed by prominent commodities trader Peter Brandt, who recently remarked that the asset is a "Manipulated scam" on its way to $0. But according to an industry investor, there's an explainable reason why XRP is worth $9 billion and may continue to hold that valuation moving forward.

With such a strong group of retail investors supporting XRP, prices can be relatively high compared to what prominent analysts think its worth.

"Funds or whales don't want to get involved with thinly traded tokens on exchange because of slippage, and if liquidity doesn't pick up they're stuck I suspect this may also be why while some may think assets like XRP and LTC are overvalued, they continue to command multi-billion valuation. Price discovery has happened; the market just disagrees with you."

While the XRP market may be maintaining a multi-billion-dollar valuation, that's not to say that the asset isn't trending lower over time.

Brandt shared the chart seen below in March, noting how it looks as though there is no macro price support for XRP in the current range.

"I am breaking a promise. I said I would never again post a chart of XRP. But, I thought you all might be interested in what it means to have 'white space below'."

According to Florent Moulin - part of the research and product team at crypto research firm Messari - the inflation of XRP's circulating supply over the past 12 months was 20 percent.

"Only 30% of XRP max supply has been distributed, vs 87.5% for BTC. BTC is up 20% since last year, XRP is down 47%.".

He told Bloomberg last year that the fact that so much XRP is being released onto the open market by Ripple and related parties is likely leading "Savvy investors" to sell the cryptocurrency.