The crypto market has been red-hot lately. Any major crypto name that isn't a stablecoin posted significant gains in the last month. As of this writing, Bitcoin (BTC 3.84%) has gained 43% in 30 days while Cronos (CRO -4.76%) more than doubled and Dogecoin (DOGE 1.05%) more than tripled.

But XRP (XRP 5.60%) didn't get the memo about this thrilling crypto-market sprint. The digital coin also known as Ripple only gained 30% in the same period and trades just below $0.70.

Is this a good time to invest in XRP and the accompanying RippleNet payment service, or will the coin continue playing second fiddle to the faster-growing cryptocurrencies?

Why XRP's market performance stands apart

There is a clear disconnect between XRP and the crypto market as a whole. Most of the leading cryptocurrencies tend to rise and fall in unison, led by Bitcoin's dominant market value. Even meme coins like Dogecoin belong in this bundle of tied-together crypto names, except when they either soar or plunge for silly reasons.

But XRP travels on a different plane. Bitcoin has doubled in 2024 but XRP is back exactly where it started this year. The cryptocurrency's chart can make sharp turns unrelated to any other digital coin or token, typically inspired by the events in a New York courtroom.

Legal challenges shape XRP's investment trajectory

You know what I'm talking about. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against the Ripple Labs organization and its leaders four years ago, accusing them of selling unregistered securities in the early days of XRP. This legal action made XRP unavailable to American investors for two and a half years and damaged the investing market's confidence in XRP. So the Ripple-backed cryptocurrency keeps jumping on good legal news and falling when things aren't going so well.

The funny thing is, XRP has ended up lagging behind the broader crypto market even as most rulings fell in the organization's favor. Furthermore, the RippleNet platform for international payments is a proven tool with substantial real-world value, and investors aren't giving the underlying cryptocurrency the respect it deserves.

RippleNet's role in building XRP's value

The XRP ledger processes more than 20 transactions per second, managing more than 500,000 payments and money transfers every day. The recent addition of automated market makers (AMM) has boosted the amount of liquid funds available to the system. In other words, RippleNet is a fully functional and very active money-transfer system today.

And I'm not surprised to see the Ripple service gaining traction. Besides the quick payment processing, it also manages border-crossing money transfers with low fees and a minimum of hassle. As a Swedish-American immigrant with occasional side gigs managed in places like the U.K. and Lithuania, I have some experience with slow and costly overseas payments. Ripple solves most of these issues, which makes the functional XRP token valuable in a very practical way.

The digital road ahead

Court cases are always unpredictable, though the Ripple side has seen more victories than defeats in this legal duel with the SEC.

Whether the final outcome is positive or downright brutal for XRP and its investors, putting that struggle in the rearview mirror should be a big step forward. Investors hate uncertainty, especially in volatile and unfamiliar markets such as cryptocurrencies. Chasing away that gloomy legal albatross can only be good for XRP's long-term value.

I'm not sure whether that release will come soon enough to let XRP ride the coattails of the next Bitcoin surge, but it really doesn't matter. Buying XRP tokens for about $0.70 apiece in 2024 may result in market-beating gains over the next decade and beyond. I own more XRP than Bitcoin, because the token looks deeply undervalued in light of that thriving and growing payment service.