A tweet by crypto researcher SMQKE highlighted a point that is increasingly echoed by both academic research and industry observation: Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are structurally unfit for the demands of modern, high-volume global payments.
The evidence presented supports the argument that scalability, cost-efficiency, and regulatory compatibility are critical for any digital asset to be integrated into institutional-grade financial systems. On all of these fronts, XRP significantly outperforms Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Scalability Bottlenecks in Bitcoin and Ethereum
Scalability, in the context of global payments, refers to the system’s ability to handle millions of transactions simultaneously with speed, reliability, and minimal cost. According to data cited in the images attached to the tweet, both Bitcoin and Ethereum process fewer than 20 transactions per second.
This is a major constraint considering that modern banking infrastructure must scale to hundreds of thousands of transactions per second. As noted by IBM’s Lund, while newer systems are achieving up to 4,000 transactions per second in experimental setups, legacy blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum remain severely limited by their foundational architecture.
‼️ WHY BTC AND ETH WILL NEVER COMPETE WITH XRP IN GLOBAL PAYMENTS ‼️
Scalability means how well a system can handle lots of transactions at the same time, quickly and without high costs. Banks need this because they process millions of payments every day that must be fast and… https://t.co/N5tjg8GZ64 pic.twitter.com/PnuiSqLZc1
— SMQKE (@SMQKEDQG) June 5, 2025
Regulatory and Operational Incompatibility
The high volatility and low scalability of BTC and ETH are further highlighted in academic literature. A 2022 publication available on Springer concludes that these assets are unsuitable as payment instruments in most distributed ledger technology (DLT) use cases due to these very limitations.
Their underlying proof-of-work consensus mechanisms not only limit throughput but also make transaction confirmation times longer and energy consumption unsustainable. These technical deficiencies also create complications for compliance within regulated financial environments, further disqualifying BTC and ETH from institutional adoption in global payment systems.
XRP’s Technical Design for Institutional Use
In contrast, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is cited in a separate academic paper on the EDISON-X energy trading system as an example of a DLT built for fast, low-cost, and scalable payments.
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XRPL uses a Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA) consensus mechanism, which enables transaction finality in 3–4 seconds, with a cost of less than $0.001 per transaction and the capacity to handle up to 1,500 transactions per second.
These attributes make XRP suitable not only for peer-to-peer payments but also for enterprise-level applications such as energy trading and cross-border financial settlement.
Institutional Preferences and Real-World Integration
Furthermore, the scalability and low transaction latency of XRPL are central to its adoption by financial institutions. As highlighted in a Financial Times excerpt shared in the tweet, Ripple engineered its technology from the outset to handle hundreds of thousands of transactions per second.
This design goal aligns with the operational requirements of major financial institutions such as Standard Chartered and Bank of America, which necessitate systems that can support large-scale, real-time transaction processing.
SMQKE’s tweet argues that Bitcoin and Ethereum were not built for today’s payment environment, and available data supports this claim. XRP, on the other hand, was designed specifically for fast and reliable transactions within regulated frameworks.
This distinction explains why banks and regulated financial entities have steered clear of BTC and ETH in operational payment infrastructure, reserving their usage for speculative purposes instead.
In summary, technical scalability, regulatory alignment, and settlement efficiency are essential for digital assets to be used in global payments. XRP, through its consensus mechanism and system design, meets the scalability and compliance standards required for institutional adoption, making it a strong candidate for modern payment systems.
Disclaimer: This content is meant to inform and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author’s personal opinions and do not represent Times Tabloid’s opinion. Readers are advised to conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions. Any action taken by the reader is strictly at their own risk. Times Tabloid is not responsible for any financial losses.
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