The Smartest Cryptocurrency to Buy With $100 Right Now (September 2025)

That crisp Benjamin could either gather dust in your savings account—or become your entry ticket to crypto's next bull run.

Why This Coin Beats Traditional Banking

While banks offer 0.5% APY on your hundred bucks, this digital asset consistently outperforms inflation by double digits. It's not just speculation—real-world adoption is driving utility beyond Wall Street's imagination.

The Infrastructure Advantage

Built on proven blockchain architecture, this cryptocurrency processes transactions at speeds that make traditional finance look like dial-up. No middlemen taking cuts, no settlement delays—just peer-to-peer efficiency that actually works.

Market Position & Growth Potential

Sitting at the intersection of DeFi and real-world applications, this token has weathered three market cycles while maintaining developer activity growth. The network effect is real—and it's just getting started.

Your Move, Traditional Finance

While hedge funds debate allocation percentages, your $100 positions you ahead of institutional money that's still filling out paperwork. Sometimes the smartest investment is the one that bypasses the entire legacy system.

Image source: Getty Images.

Clouds of uncertainty have parted to reveal clearer skies

The single biggest reason for XRP's monumental price movement is likely the resolution of a legal overhang that for several years had cast a shadow over XRP. In 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Ripple Labs, the company that developed XRP and the XRP ledger, alleging that it had violated securities laws by selling XRP tokens.

After a lengthy legal battle, a judge ruled that XRP sales on exchanges to individual investors had not violated any securities laws; however, Ripple Labs' sales of XRP to institutional investors did. The mixed ruling left the parties jockeying over appeals and potential penalties. Once Trump entered office, the two parties worked to resolve the lawsuit and finalized a $50 million settlement in May 2025, clearing the path forward for Ripple.

Since then, XRP's price has skyrocketed, a clear sign that the uncertainty surrounding Ripple Labs had been weighing on XRP's price. Removing the lawsuit from the picture has opened up XRP to new opportunities. For instance, institutional investors have filed to launch spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that WOULD hold the underlying XRP tokens on behalf of investors.

Such products make XRP more accessible to investors and simultaneously create demand for the cryptocurrency.

Opportunities ahead for the Ripple network

Meanwhile, the path is now clear for institutions to utilize the XRP ledger for its intended purpose: to facilitate cross-border financial transactions quickly and at scale.

Currently, the vast majority of cross-border transactions occur on a messaging network between banks, known as SWIFT. The XRP ledger is a decentralized blockchain that utilizes a trust-based system, in which the blockchain nodes validate transactions. It is far more efficient, enabling significantly faster cross-border transactions than SWIFT, and at a minimal cost.

Ripple Labs has launched a stablecoin that utilizes the XRP ledger. If it gains traction, the increased traffic would also likely bode well for XRP since the token essentially behaves like a bridge currency between the two sides of every transaction on the XRP ledger. In other words, money is converted to XRP on one side of a transaction, then converted and settled as another currency on the other end.

Today's world economy is steadily becoming increasingly globalized, and breaking down barriers between different countries and financial systems could be a tremendous opportunity during the coming years. If things continue in this direction, XRP's continued prominence in the cryptocurrency sector could lead to additional usage and demand for the token over the long term.

One crucial reminder about volatility

Cryptocurrencies have historically been volatile investments, and there's no reason investors should expect anything different in the future. Ideally, the XRP ledger's volume increases to the point that the XRP token's price stabilizes. However, it could take a long time to arrive at that point, if it even happens.

Therefore, it is generally best to own XRP and other cryptocurrencies as part of a diversified portfolio. Investing $100 into XRP probably won't make or break your portfolio, and if XRP does realize its potential, you might get much more out of that $100 investment than you expect.

Often, managing risk is just as important as picking the right investments. As long as you maintain XRP as a reasonable allocation in your portfolio, its high long-term ceiling might make it the smartest cryptocurrency to buy with $100 right now.