Leading analyst calls XRP 'banking meme coin'

Leading analyst calls XRP 'banking meme coin' originally appeared on TheStreet.

Leading analyst Tom Dunleavy thinks the next altcoin season is going to significantly differ from past cycles.

Altcoins could retain a 30%-35% share of the total crypto market cap but at a much higher level than previous cycles, he added.

Dunleavy is the head of venture at Varys Capital, a crypto-focused venture capital firm with offices in Thailand and the UAE.

In a recent conversation with TheStreet Roundtable host Scott Melker, Dunleavy shed light on the prospects of leading altcoins such as Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Chainlink, etc.

Melker cited two recent reports that are bullish on altcoins.

In one report, Bitwise bet on ETH, SOL, XRP, LINK, etc. as the “cleanest” altcoin investments to capitalize on the tokenization boom.

Join the discussion with Scott Melker on Roundtable here.

In another report, analyst Timo Oinonen highlighted stablecoin balance on the Binance crypto exchange hitting a record $31 billion in June. The much-awaited altseason may be around, the report indicated.

XRP a 'banking meme coin'

Dunleavy said he agreed on the assessment of all these altcoins except one.

Ethereum is where most of the stablecoin activity is, so it makes sense to include it among the top assets, he underlined. ETH was trading at $2,812.21, down 9.5% a year.

He said he could, however, see why there is a bearish sentiment around ETH within the crypto community because one expected its price to really capitalize on the stablecoin and tokenization boom.

Solana has also seen a huge amount of stablecoin activity, he said while underlining its crucial position within altcoins. SOL was trading at $159.33, up 13% a year.

Chainlink, even if LINK hasn't shown any substantial price movement for ages, provides the oracles for both stablecoins and real-world assets (RWAs) tokenization, Dunleavy continued.

LINK was trading at $14.64, up 14.5% a year.

Join the discussion with Benjamin Cowen on Roundtable here.

The only cryptocurrency Varys Capital’s head of venture expressed skepticism about is XRP, thanks to its centralized model in comparison to other altcoins.

XRP has only 35 validators and is slower at 20 transactions per second (TPS), he continued. Though Ripple has a stablecoin, other stablecoins have more liquidity, he underlined.

XRP is still like a “banking meme coin,” which Dunleavy said he isn’t sure to bet on. It was trading at $2.49, up 473% a year.

Different altcoin season anticipated

Other altcoins are “great ways to play” the proliferation of stablecoins and RWA tokenization in the next few years.

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Melker asked Dunleavy if he saw these factors having a trickle-down effect on altcoins and if a true alt season lay ahead.

Dunleavy said this time, the alt season will differ from past cycles. As Bitcoin anticipates a significant capital inflow via exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and sovereign interest, altcoins would have to be limited to their typical 30%-35% share of the total crypto market cap.

Join the discussion with CryptoWendyO on Roundtable here.

Bitcoin hit a record high of $113,833.84 on July 10. With a market cap of $2.25 trillion, it accounted for 62% of the total crypto market cap.

Nonetheless, since the market has expanded, the altcoin season will be much larger this time, Dunleavy added.

Leading analyst calls XRP 'banking meme coin' first appeared on TheStreet on Jul 10, 2025

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jul 10, 2025, where it first appeared.