1 Top Cryptocurrency to Buy Before It Soars 471%, According to Wall Street Analyst Geoff Kendrick

There aren't too many Wall Street analysts publishing price predictions on cryptocurrencies

That's because digital currencies are much more difficult to value than traditional stocks

They don't generate cash flow or earnings, nor do they return capital to holders; therefore, the traditional valuation methods used by Wall Street analysts don't apply

One strategist who frequently issues crypto price predictions is Geoff Kendrick, the global head of digital asset re at the British bank Standard Chartered

Kendrick is a Wall Street veteran, with 20 years covering global currencies prior to the crypto beat

Investors have been excited its cross-border payments potential

XRP's network was among the first that could cess many transactions per second, although several competitors have popped up since then

Kendrick's call on XRP, which he made earlier this year, involved three big factors

The first was on the regulatory side and has to do with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

The legal battle carried on for four years, with Ripple seemingly winning the case at times, but the SEC appealing parts of the court decision it disagreed with

The lawsuit attracted unwanted attention for XRP because it could have set a precedent over how much jurisdiction the SEC had over certain cryptocurrencies

So, most crypto investors were watching it, which may have created negative sentiment for XRP

Image source: Getty Images

But once President Donald Trump won the election last November and ushered in a -crypto administration, leadership at the SEC changed, and the agency eventually dropped or settled several high-file crypto cases, including with Ripple

That led the price of XRP to surge and ed the way for other catalysts spot-XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

Kendrick now believes the nical strengths of XRP's network and its uses can take hold

He thinks that its ability to facilitate quick, low-cost international transfers gives it a similar position to stablecoins

Ripple has actually launched its own stablecoin

He thinks that Ripple partnering with large traditional financial institutions gives XRP a leg up on competition when it comes to adoption

Lastly, Kendrick sees catalysts from Ripple's move into asset tokenization, the cess of using digital assets on a blockchain to represent ownership of physical perty or other digital assets

Tokenization is seen as being useful for the ownership of U

Treasury bills and stablecoins

While there are spot XRP ETFs abroad, none currently exist in the U

That could soon change, however, with the SEC still expected to apve exchange-traded funds for XRP by the end of the year

Kendrick estimates this could unlock another $4 billion to $8 billion of inflows and "legitimize XRP for institutional and retail investors. " XRP to $12

Of course, investors should always take crypto price targets with a grain of salt

Kendrick is undoubtedly very intelligent, but as I mentioned above, cryptocurrencies are more volatile than traditional assets, and it's more difficult to value them

That said, Ripple has been dogged by the SEC lawsuit for years and can now make more gress in building out its, which could lead to further adoption of XRP, although investors should keep in mind that there is more competition than there once was

Ultimately, I find XRP and its network's uses intriguing, so I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see it take off, especially if interest rates fall and the dollar continues to weaken

But I still find it too volatile to take a large position in it, and I continue to recommend investors keep positions smaller and more speculative for now

Bram Berkowitz has positions in Bitcoin and XRP

The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and XRP

The Motley Fool recommends Standard Chartered Plc

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.