The last 10 years have been kind to investors with the foresight to not only buy XRP (XRP +3.39%) in 2015 but hold through the many extreme ups and downs in the years since. While Bitcoin remains the largest cryptocurrency and continues to dominate the market, XRP has cemented itself as one of the most valuable projects in the crypto space. With a market cap exceeding $150 billion today, XRP is the fourth-largest cryptocurrency worldwide.

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Here’s how much you would have

The crypto’s more-than-300% run over the past year means the token now trades above $2.50 — a far cry from the few cents an XRP would have fetched a decade ago. So, what would you have today if you had invested $1,500 in November 2015 and held to today? That initial investment would be worth a whopping $755,000 today. That’s quite a return. You can see the incredible performance in the chart below.

XRP Price data by YCharts

Past success does not mean future success

While the return is impressive and XRP’s price certainly could spike further this year if the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) green-lights XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs), I believe its value will decline over time. Long-term investors would do well to avoid XRP. The token’s value is driven heavily by hype — hype fueled by a central misunderstanding of the token’s underlying economics.