[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong] Coach JV, an XRP advocate and industry critic, cited differences in cost structures that arise during long-term holding as a reason he keeps buying bitcoin and XRP. He argued that unlike assets such as homes or cars, which repeatedly generate taxes, registration fees and maintenance costs after purchase, XRP and bitcoin have no annual recurring charges simply for holding the tokens.

According to blockchain media outlet Decrypto on Sept. 28 (local time), Coach JV said in a recent post on X, formerly Twitter, that when evaluating an asset, investors should look not only at the purchase price but also at the long-term holding costs.

He said that even after paying off a car, people still pay annual registration fees, and even after paying off a home, they still pay property taxes each year. He added, "Debt can disappear, but obligations do not." He said this is one reason he buys bitcoin and XRP.

Coach JV compared the ongoing costs of traditional physical assets. Even after paying off a mortgage or a car loan in full, a home still comes with property taxes, insurance premiums and maintenance costs, while a car also requires continued payments for registration, insurance and maintenance.

By contrast, XRP does not generate recurring costs such as annual property taxes or registration fees simply because it is kept in a wallet. Coach JV stressed that this difference matters for long-term investing.

Still, holding XRP is not entirely cost-free. The XRP Ledger (XRPL) requires a base reserve of 1 XRP to create an account under a self-custody approach. This concept locks up a certain amount for as long as the account exists, and it differs in nature from a fee paid repeatedly each year.

Network fees also apply when sending or trading XRP. The current standard minimum transaction fee is 10 drops, or 0.00001 XRP. Fees used in transactions are permanently burned on the network. If XRP is held without separate transactions, transaction fees do not recur.

Investors should also consider costs that depend on how they store the asset. With self-custody, investors must manage private keys and recovery information themselves. Additional costs may arise if they buy a hardware wallet or use a separate paid custodial service. If they store XRP on an exchange, they are subject to that exchange's fees and service policies.

There are also differences in account reserves between exchange custody and self-custody. According to XRP Ledger documentation, if an exchange manages multiple customers' assets under a single account structure, customers may not need to maintain an individual 1 XRP reserve each.

Ultimately, Coach JV's point is less that XRP is an entirely cost-free asset than that there are no annually recurring mandatory costs simply for holding it after purchase. XRP can still involve costs depending on network use or custody method, but he argues the structure differs from costs that are regularly imposed simply for ownership, such as a home's property tax or a car's registration fee.

As he explains his logic for investing in XRP and bitcoin, he is stressing that investors should compare not only an asset's price but also the costs that arise when holding it over the long term.

Pay off your car: you still pay every year to register it. Pay off your home: you still pay property taxes every year. The debt can disappear. The obligation doesn’t. That’s one reason I buy Bitcoin and XRP. My homes and cars have ongoing costs simply to own and maintain them. Bitcoin doesn’t have property tax, registration, or a required monthly payment just to continue holding it. That doesn’t make crypto risk-free. Price volatility, custody, and security are real risks. But it raises a bigger question: If you have to keep paying someone forever to keep an asset, what does “owning it” really mean? I’m not against homes or cars. I own them. I’m simply thinking differently about ownership. Don’t just ask what it costs to buy an asset. Ask what it costs to own it forever.