Most People Will Never Own a Meaningful Amount of XRP: Analyst

XRP community commentator Pumpius has highlighted three psychological reasons that prevent most individuals from acquiring a substantial amount of XRP.

For many XRP investors, the goal is to accumulate large quantities of the asset in anticipation of future price appreciation. They employ various strategies, including dollar-cost averaging (DCA), to grow their XRP holdings by buying during market downturns.

Barriers Preventing Many Investors from Owning a Meaningful Amount of XRP

While some investors are acquiring more XRP, Pumpius asserted that most people will never own a meaningful amount of the coin. 

The community pundit claimed that meaningful XRP ownership will elude many individuals, not because they can’t afford it, but because of three key psychological barriers.

Cognitive Barrier 

Pumpius contended that these investors may not want to acquire XRP due to a lack of understanding of the cryptocurrency. He suggested that the average retail investor still thinks XRP is just another cryptocurrency without understanding that the coin serves as a financial infrastructure. 

As a result of this misunderstanding, most retail investors ignore certain core features of XRP, including its use in On-Demand Liquidity (ODL). Now rebranded as Ripple Payments, ODL allows users to leverage XRP for instant, low-cost cross-border settlements. 

Emotional Barrier 

Pumpius highlighted ‘emotion’ as another barrier preventing most investors from acquiring a meaningful amount of XRP. 

According to him, these individuals usually crave hype over value. He asserted that XRP is not a meme coin and does not promise to give investors 100x gains within five hours. Most investors may never buy XRP “because they can’t handle delayed gratification.”

Since XRP is a utility token, Pumpius noted that most pump-and-dump influencers on social media tend to ignore it.

3/ Emotional: They Crave Hype, Not Value

XRP doesn’t give them dopamine like memecoins.

It doesn’t promise 100x in 5 hours.
It’s not listed by every pump-and-dump influencer.

That’s why most will never buy it — because they can’t handle delayed gratification.

— Pumpius (@pumpius) June 9, 2025

Behavioral Barrier 

Pumpius also pointed to behavioral patterns as a reason many people will never own significant amounts of XRP. He argued that these investors tend to chase trends rather than adopt long-term strategies like DCA or disciplined holding.

In contrast, he highlighted that XRP whales are more methodical, quietly accumulating the asset and holding through periods of intense skepticism. 

XRP Supply Shrinking 

Meanwhile, Pumpius noted that while most retail investors are chasing after meme coins, institutional clients are bracing up for the long game with XRP. 

He attributed this confidence to ongoing positive developments in the XRP ecosystem. These include XRP’s involvement in Dubai’s real estate tokenization initiative, its use in cross-border settlement, and the regulatory approval of RLUSD in multiple jurisdictions. 

Consequently, he suggested that these initiatives are gradually reducing the publicly traded supply of XRP, potentially creating scarcity for the coin. 

Pumpius predicted that once XRP reaches mass adoption, institutions will dominate custody, and retail investors may no longer be able to buy the coin, even at prices between $10 and $1,000, regardless of demand.