[DigitalToday reporter Yeseul Kim] Cryptocurrency analyst Paul Barron rated XRP as a “real player” in the crypto market.

TheCryptoBasic, a blockchain media outlet, reported on April 18 that Barron said in a recent commentary that new investors initially focus on bitcoin and ethereum, but their view of XRP changes as they look more deeply into the market.

Barron said each market cycle draws new investors, but they enter without fully understanding the past context. He explained that as they gauge the market through platforms such as CoinMarketCap, they tend to see bitcoin as the dominant asset and ethereum as an ecosystem driven by rapid innovation and decentralised applications. By contrast, he said XRP can initially look like an unfamiliar cryptocurrency.

Barron argued that perceptions of XRP shift once investors start examining its connections to financial markets and Wall Street. He said XRP’s more than 10-year track record and role are not easily visible to new investors, creating a gap between its actual standing and initial impressions.

XRP focuses on a different area from bitcoin or ethereum. Barron said its influence is not easily apparent from first impressions because it is centred on financial infrastructure, liquidity and enterprise use cases.

XRP, launched in 2012, has gone through multiple market cycles and regulatory issues such as the Ripple lawsuit. Its range of use has expanded from cross-border payments to broader financial uses and decentralised finance. Without this historical context, XRP can appear to be just another altcoin rather than a long-built infrastructure project, it said.

Barron also said XRP’s progress is more often assessed at the level of institutional adoption and integration than by retail investor interest. He cited SBI Holdings and Santander adopting XRP-related technology as part of that backdrop.

Barron stressed that XRP may lag in popular buzz, but it occupies a position distinct from other cryptocurrencies when its use within the financial system and its long-accumulated track record are considered. In this flow, the outlet said, assessments of XRP are expected to keep focusing on whether adoption by the financial sector and actual usage expansion continue, rather than simply on price or name recognition.