Software development firm MicroStrategy would have witnessed a nearly 3-fold increase in profit if it invested in XRP rather than Bitcoin.
The ongoing hostilities between the Bitcoin and XRP communities have grown more intense following speculation that XRP might secure inclusion in the U.S. strategic reserve. Notably, these speculations came on the back of the recent crypto executive order from President Donald Trump.
Amid the growing FUD campaign XRP has faced over the past few days, former Ripple and current Arbitrum developer advocate Matt Hamilton called attention to what he believes could be contributing to the hostility from Bitcoin maximalists.
Particularly, Hamilton compared XRP price performance with Bitcoin’s price action during MicroStrategy’s aggressive Bitcoin acquisition strategy and found that if the software development firm had opted for XRP, its profits could have been significantly higher.
MicroStrategy Makes $17B+ Profit from Bitcoin
For context, between August 2020 and January 13, 2025, MicroStrategy purchased around 450,000 Bitcoin, spending $28.2 billion. As of Jan. 13, 2025, this investment was worth $45.3 billion, resulting in a profit of $17.1 billion.
Notably, their first Bitcoin purchase occurred on Aug. 11, 2020, when they acquired 21,454 BTC for $250 million at an average price of $11,652 per coin.
Meanwhile, their two largest acquisitions were on Dec. 9, 2024, when they bought 21,550 BTC for $2.1 billion at $97,405 per coin, and Dec. 16, 2024, when they added 15,350 BTC for $1.5 billion at $97,735 per coin.
Further, the most recent purchase on the chart occurred on Jan. 13, 2025, with 2,530 BTC bought for $243 million at an average price of $96,057 per token. It bears mentioning that this evaluation omitted MicroStrategy’s latest Bitcoin buy, which involved 11,000 BTC for a total price of $1.1 billion on Jan. 21, the largest for this year.
XRP Would Have Yielded $50B+ Profit
The image shared by Hamilton suggested that if MicroStrategy had invested the same $28.2 billion in XRP, the firm could have seen much greater returns. Using historical XRP prices, the chart estimated they could have acquired 31.4 billion XRP, now worth $79 billion.
The first hypothetical XRP purchase on Aug. 11, 2020, would have secured 869.6 million XRP for $250 million at $0.2875 per token.
Meanwhile, the two largest hypothetical purchases would have occurred on Dec. 9, 2024, with $2.1 billion procuring 612.9 million XRP at $2.1994 per token, and Dec. 16, 2024, with $1.5 billion securing 646.3 million XRP at $2.3207 per token.
On Jan. 13, 2025, the firm could have obtained 96.9 million XRP for $243 million at $2.5064 per coin. According to the assessment, this alternate approach would have resulted in $50.4 billion in profit, over $33 billion more than Bitcoin.
Hamilton’s disclosure triggered reactions from the crypto community. Arniel Sia, a Bitcoiner and founder of Siacfo, responded by noting that XRP’s price has never recovered from its 2017 high of $3.84, unlike Bitcoin, which has since surpassed its previous peak.
Zoom out. XRPs price has never recovered from its 2017 high compared to bitcoin.
You’re also missing the point.
The goal isn’t to increase the amount of dollars someone has. It’s to escape from the current debt based system, where fiat is constantly debased and inflated away. pic.twitter.com/BMti4bGTI9
— Arniel Sia | Sovereign CPA ⚡️🇺🇸 (@ArnielSia) January 26, 2025
Sia stressed that Bitcoin presents a means to escape fiat’s inflationary system rather than just increasing dollar wealth. Hamilton agreed with his argument but also highlighted XRP’s fixed supply and resilience to debasement, which he believes make it a valuable asset.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.