[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] Discussion is spreading among XRP investors comparing XRP's long sideways trend to Nvidia's past share-price moves.

On May 18 (local time), blockchain outlet The Crypto Basic reported that some XRP holders believe XRP could enter a strong uptrend after a long stagnant period. They cite Nvidia as an example of trading below $1 for a long time before rising to triple-digit prices.

The discussion was sparked by an Nvidia stock chart released by trading platform TrendSpider. The chart shows Nvidia moved between $0.05 and $0.99 for about 17 years from 1999 to 2016, and continued rising after breaking above $1 in 2016.

Abdullah Nassif (압둘라 나시프), a figure in the XRP community, said of the chart, "Anyone holding XRP can relate." That shows expectations are spreading among XRP investors that major price volatility could emerge after a long period of sideways movement. Some in the community also continue to interpret XRP's long stagnation not as simple weakness but as an accumulation phase.

Market views are mixed. XRP trades at about $1.37, still below its all-time high of $3.84. By CoinMarketCap tallies, XRP has not recovered that level for 8 years since the peak was formed. Some investors interpret that as a long accumulation phase, while others say XRP's upside momentum has lagged compared with bitcoin, which has set new records across multiple market cycles.

Critics also say it is hard to put Nvidia and XRP on the same footing. They say Nvidia is a major technology company posting strong growth on the back of demand for artificial intelligence, while XRP is a cryptocurrency more influenced by adoption, market demand and the regulatory environment than by corporate earnings. They say the drivers of price gains differ, making a simple comparison unreasonable.

The debate also ties in with recent expectations around Nvidia. Nvidia is drawing investor attention again ahead of an earnings release. KeyBanc Capital Markets raised its Nvidia price target to $300 from $275, saying demand for AI chips and interest in the Blackwell Ultra GPU and Rubin GPU systems are growing. XRP supporters cite such cases to argue that long stagnation does not necessarily mean structural weakness.

The long-term XRP holding thesis is not new. Financial analyst Linda Jones (린다 존스) compared it around December 2024, saying, "Selling XRP now is like selling Berkshire Hathaway shares in the early days." She argued that because XRP has a role in cross-border payments through Ripple, it should be seen as more than a purely speculative asset, and stressed that patience matters for long-term assets.

The Nvidia comparison can be seen as reviving an existing debate over whether XRP's prolonged slump is a precursor to a future rise. Some in the community even mention a triple-digit price outlook, but other users say they hope it will not take 17 years, as it did for Nvidia, before XRP makes a real breakout.

We had 17 years to accumulate $NVDA under a dollar pic.twitter.com/nNlPnfN9r1