The paradox of XRP: Can it remain subversive if it becomes elite?

The XRP ledger processes more than 1,500 transactions per second, with settlement time of only 3-5 seconds, while the second layer of innovation can increase throughput to 65,000 transactions. Even though payments fell 60% to 114 million transactions by the end of 2025, the XRP price remained firm at $3.01. Version 2.5.0 introduces smart contracts through Hooks, token custody and batch processing. Governance relies on 191 validators, and Ripple's influence has dropped below 20% of UNL. The ledger faces a paradox: expansion requires institutional adoption, but there is a risk of centralization.