[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong] Interest is growing in what investing $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000 in XRP could lead to over the next 10 years. Some investors think XRP could enter another major upcycle, while others hold a sceptical view that much of its growth potential has already been exhausted.

On Jan. 8 (local time), blockchain outlet The Crypto Basic reported that XRP has stayed among the top 5 by market capitalisation since its launch in 2013 despite a prolonged legal dispute after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple in December 2020. CoinMarketCap says XRP recorded a cumulative gain of about 35,000 percent from its all-time high even as the lawsuit dragged on for about 5 years.

That performance delivered massive returns for early investors. Someone who invested $10,000 in XRP in early trading in 2013 would now be holding value of about $3.5 million. For that reason, some market participants argue that XRP's upside for a large rise has already been used up and say it is hard for new investors to expect the same kind of life-changing returns seen in the past.

Many analysts and figures in the XRP community take the view that room for growth still remains. In November last year, XRP commentator Pumpius said the market was still in its early stages and argued that XRP could be an asset capable of creating significant wealth over the long term. Amid that optimism, some investors expect that even relatively small investments of $1,000 to $10,000 could translate into large long-term gains.

In that context, AI chatbot Grok offered a forecast for XRP's price in 2036 based on a bullish scenario. Citing wider institutional adoption, growth of the Ripple ecosystem, possible ETF inflows and expanding real-world use cases for XRP, Grok analysed that XRP could rise to $50 from about $2.06 now. That would amount to a gain of more than 2,300 percent.

At the current price, a $1,000 investment would buy about 485 XRP. A $5,000 investment would buy about 2,427, and $10,000 would secure about 4,854 XRP. If XRP reaches $50 as Grok forecast, a $1,000 investment would be valued at about $24,250, a $5,000 investment at about $121,350 and a $10,000 investment at about $242,700.

Even so, that scenario is only an analysis based on bullish assumptions, not a definitive outlook. XRP's price may fail to reach the estimate, or exceed it, depending on future market conditions, regulatory changes and whether fundamentals develop. The market points to the need to pair long-term expectations with risk management.