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USA Today
43 minutes ago
- USA Today
XRP is the smartest cryptocurrency to buy with $500 right now
XRP is demonstrating its long-term growth potential. Nowadays, $500 doesn't feel like much — especially if you invest it in the S&P 500 index, where you can expect to make an average annual return of 10% (assuming historical trends remain constant). That's just $50 per year. However, the cryptocurrency industry offers the potential for significantly larger gains than traditional asset classes, like stocks or bonds, for investors who are willing to tolerate more volatility. Below I'll explore why the payments-focused token digital XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) might make an excellent long-term pick as it racks up regulatory wins in the U.S. and seeks to disrupt the market for international transactions. The regulatory climate is easing Donald Trump's presidential election victory sparked a sharp rally in many cryptocurrencies, and it isn't hard to understand why Wall Street is so optimistic. On the campaign trail, he promised to support the digital asset industry and, so far, his administration is meeting or even exceeding expectations with a raft of newly passed legislation. On July 18, Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (Genius) Act, which is designed to create a framework for issuing dollar-pegged stablecoins. On its face, this law helps legitimize cryptocurrency as a mainstream asset class, which will encourage businesses and institutional investors to get more involved without the fear of potentially breaking any rules. The Genius Act is a departure from the climate under the previous administration, when lawsuits and enforcement stifled crypto adoption. XRP's developer, Ripple Labs, was affected by this legal uncertainty. In 2021, Ripple lost its partnership with one of its highest-profile clients, MoneyGram, which stopped using its XRP-based liquidity solutions after Ripple was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over alleged securities law violations. The case has now been largely resolved with XRP not classified as a security when sold to retail investors, although there are still discussions about settling fines related to Ripple's sales of XRP to institutional investors. The path to real-world utility XRP's main selling point is its focus on real-world utility. Instead of trying to be a platform for highly speculative and often useless decentralized applications (dApps), XRP focuses on the more tangible market for international payments. Its speed and low fees (0.00001 XRP per transaction) make it an ideal bridge between different currencies. For example, if someone in the U.S. wanted to send money to Japan, they could buy XRP with dollars and use that XRP to buy Japanese yen, bypassing slow and potentially costly intermediaries. Dollar-pegged stablecoins promise to make this process even easier by removing the volatility inherent in a free-floating bridge currency like XRP. Instead of allowing its niche to be disrupted, XRP's developers are joining the fray. In 2024, they launched a dollar-pegged stablecoin of their own called RLUSD. Consumer use of RLUSD can indirectly benefit XRP because both tokens are built on the same network. RLUSD transaction fees are paid with XRP, which is then removed from circulation (burned). Is it too late to buy XRP? Despite its relatively small unit price of just $3.15 at the time of this writing, XRP is the third-largest cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $187 billion. While this vast size gives it more brand recognition and stability, it also means that investors shouldn't expect a repeat of the explosive returns XRP enjoyed in the past. That said, slow and steady often wins the race. XRP has graduated from the boom and bust volatility of a meme coin, and investors should focus on its long-term growth potential as it benefits from easing regulatory pressure and compelling real-world use cases. Will Ebiefung has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY. Should you invest $1,000 in XRP right now? Offer from the Motley Fool: Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks »
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
3 Highly Shorted Stocks That Could Be the Next Wall Street Sensations
The meme-stock mania during the days of the pandemic was seen as a revolt of the ordinary retail investing public against the Wall Street giants. Armed with their zero-fee brokerage accounts on platforms like Robinhood (HOOD), a group of investors spearheaded by members of the Reddit (RDDT) group r/wallstreetbets shook the very foundations of giant hedge funds through a concerted effort of short-covering, resulting in overlooked names like GameStop (GME) and AMC (AMC) reaching new heights. Now, after a lull of a few years, the frenzy is back, as a new wave of so-called meme-stocks like Kohl's (KSS), Opendoor (OPEN), Krispy Kreme (DNUT), and GoPro (GPRO) are having their moment in the sunshine. So, what are the next stocks that could catch a squeeze? A recent stock screener from CNBC highlighted three primary criteria: the short interest as a percentage of float should be above 30%; the company's market cap should be between $50 million and $2 billion; and the share price should be below $20. With those meme-stock guidelines in mind, here are 3 names to consider for momentum chasers. More News from Barchart Amazon Falls on Fears That AWS Is Losing Market Share: Should You Buy the AMZN Stock Dip Here? 5 Highest Rated Dividend Kings for Generations of Income Amazon's Earnings Selloff Explained, and Why You Should Buy AMZN Stock Now Stop Missing Market Moves: Get the FREE Barchart Brief – your midday dose of stock movers, trending sectors, and actionable trade ideas, delivered right to your inbox. Sign Up Now! #1. Airsculpt Technologies Stock Founded in 2012, Airsculpt Technologies (AIRS) operates under the Elite Body Sculpture brand, providing minimally invasive body contouring procedures. Its proprietary AirSculpt® method removes unwanted fat and optionally transfers it to areas like the breasts, hips, or buttocks (e.g. Power BBL, Hip Flip, Up a Cup). The company's market cap currently stands at $388.5 million. Shares of Airsculpt are up 13.9% on a YTD basis. AIRS leads the screener with a short interest of 53.1% and an average trading volume of 641,715 shares. Airsculpt's results have been consistently poor, with just one bottom-line beat in the past nine quarters. The stock fell 10% Friday after Q2 2025 results, as well as the retirement of Chief Financial Officer Dennis Dean. Looking ahead, AIRS reiterated its annual outlook for fiscal 2025 revenue in the range of $160 million to $170 million and adjusted EBITDA between $16 million and $18 million, Overall, three analysts have unanimously deemed AIRS stock a 'Hold.' The stock trades at a premium to its price target of $4.50. #2. Children's Place Stock Founded in 1969, Children's Place (PLCE) is a specialty retailer of children's apparel, offering branded and private‑label clothing for newborns to pre‑teens, primarily via mall stores and online channels. The company has expanded to operate multiple proprietary brands including Gymboree, Sugar & Jade, and PJ Place under its portfolio. Valued at a market cap of $106.5 million, PLCE stock is down 56.6% on a YTD basis. It is second on the CNBC screener's list of stocks with the most short interest at 50.2%. Children's Place hasn't surpassed consensus earnings estimates for over a year, and the two most recent quarters were unprofitable, as well. Net sales for Q1 2025 decreased by 9.6% from the previous year to $25.8 million as net losses widened to $1.52 per share from $1.18 per share in the prior year. Store count also diminished to 495 from 518 in the year-ago period. Although net cash outflow from operating activities narrowed, it remained substantial at $42.9 million, compared to $110.8 million in the previous year. Overall, Children's Place ended Q1 with a cash balance of $5.7 million, compared to its short-term debt levels of $351.5 million. Children's Place has limited coverage on Wall Street, with just a single 'Hold' rating and a target price of $6. This denotes expected upside of about 32% from current levels. #3. Zenas Biopharma Stock We conclude our list with Zenas Biopharma (ZBIO), which was founded in 2019. It is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing immunology-based therapies, particularly for autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. Valued at a market cap of $657.2 million, ZBIO stock has rallied 88.2% on a YTD basis. It has a short interest of 50.1%. Zenas has a limited quarterly earnings history, with its IPO as recent as September 2024. In Q1 2025, the company reported revenues of $10 million and losses of $0.80 per share, which came in better than the consensus estimate of a loss of $1.13 per share. Net cash used in operating activities widened to $37 million from $19.1 million in the year-ago period as the company closed the quarter with a cash balance of $196.5 million. This compares to its short-term debt levels of $20.9 million. ZBIO is the only company on this list that has a bullish rating from Wall Street analysts, primarily due to its product pipeline and research initiatives. The stock has been unanimously deemed a 'Strong Buy' by six analysts, with a mean target price of $32.33. This denotes an upside potential of about 109% from current levels. On the date of publication, Pathikrit Bose did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Forbes
AI Boom Fuels San Francisco Party Scene As People Seek Connection
Secret salons, oyster happy hours, coffee raves--San Francisco is back and basking in idyllic weather as rent increases jump to the highest in the nation. Streets are teeming with people racing to events, despite tech season being weeks away, when conferences like Dreamforce, Disrupt, TedAI and SF Tech Week take over the city. Much of the frenzy is being attributed to the AI gold rush with people returning to town to get a piece of the action, so over the past week I popped into several happenings to hear what everyone is talking about. Finding your tribe At AGI House, a sprawling Hillsborough mansion just outside of San Francisco, known for hosting tech celebrities like Google cofounder Sergey Brin and Grimes, dozens gathered for a garden gala featuring talks with industry luminaries OpenAI's chief strategy officer Jason Kwon and former OpenAI interim CEO Emmett Shear. It was as insider as it gets with a pulsing DJ set by Twitch cofounder Justin Kan, meticulously curated by AGI House founder Rocky Yu and Icons podcaster Melanie Uno. In the mix was Poshmark cofounder Manish Chandra who shared with me his views on the AI transformation. I asked, what will people do with their lives as AI frees up time, and more importantly how will they pay for it. He replied, 'I feel like we're moving to more and more abundance, even though the path to abundance always feels a little uncertain and dark." "When the dot com boom was crashing, it was impossible to find a job. Highway 101 was emptier than Covid. There were see-through buildings, literally no jobs, and people were throwing in the towel.' Trying times, he recalled. "I remember it from a personal perspective, because I had young kids and had to figure out how to survive.' He expressed how hard times bring out things that can transform you, whether you discover superpowers or connect with new people. 'Human connections deepen when times are tough,' he said. 'When times are good, people just kind of ignore each other.' He also said there have been far crazier boom and bust cycles that have come before, with companies giving away BMWs and other outrageous perks to attract engineers. 'In the nineties, technology was changing so fast, it felt like everything you were doing was going to become obsolete, literally every day," he said. 'Every 10 years, we predict the demise of Silicon Valley, and we feel like whatever the technology is coming is dooming humanity, and is more severe than last time. Yet here we all are thriving, sitting here this lovely evening.' Emmett Shear, now cofounder of Andreessen-backed AI alignment lab, Softmax, sat down with me to discuss how people can best keep their head straight during these times. He explained that in the seventies there was a seminal work authored by Alvin Toffler, called Future Shock, that explored the psychological disorientation that can occur as a result of rapid technological change. 'This feeling of overwhelm, that if things keep changing, I can't learn fast enough to keep up with the system," he said. "But the way you keep up is actually by giving up on trying to understand everything at that level of detail.' He then shared his barbell strategy for surviving the next five years. 'In a high variance environment where things can change a lot in unexpected ways, you should just YOLO big things that might work, because even if you fail, your tried-and-true plan could also fail. So there's no point playing it safe, might as well be ambitious,' he advised. 'On the other hand, as things get riskier, you'll need to build up safety and reliability support to counterbalance.' He said hunter-gatherers lived in the same situation we're wandering into, a world of forces more powerful than themselves and beyond their control. Not only was it spiritually, emotionally and intellectually beneficial to be in a tight community, but also economically sound. When you store meat from the hunt in the bellies of friends, they'll be around to help when you find yourself in a tough spot. Futureproofing AI bets Back in San Francisco, at a Michelin starred restaurant where the meal was served community style making dining optional, AI unicorn Honeybook gathered the press to discuss how AI is birthing a new breed of one person startups and solopreneurs. It was here I had a chance to talk with Jeff Crowe, managing partner of Norwest Venture Partners, who told me the story of a 20-year old founder that landed seed funding to create text-to-sheets, text-to-deck apps right before ChatGPT made it a feature. This led to the question, how can VCs futureproof bets to prevent obsolescense in the age of AI. He said the first thing to look at is product. If it's a thin wrapper around a core, it's hard to futureproof as the LLMs eat their way further into the application layer. 'It's how venture capital looked at personal software in the nineties and said what's the differentiation if Microsoft moves into the space. Thirty-plus years later, it's a similar phenomenon in AI products, where OpenAI, Anthropic and others keep adding functionality." As far as defensible moats, he looks for product capabilities not easily disruptable like those with domain-specific data, integration with large enterprise systems, and bespoke distribution tied to supply chain. If it's a product that's been around longer, he looks for how fast it's pivoting to AI, driving into core functionality as well as operations including development, customer support, sales, marketing, HR and finance. Because if operations aren't futureproofed, competitors can gain a superior cost structure and become more capital efficient and profitable. He looks to see whether customers are adapting because some are going to get accelerated, and others obliterated, with risks that have nothing to do with the core business. Lastly, he looks for a culture that's nimble and can move exceptionally quickly. A fan of young talent, Crowe believes hiring AI-natives is the best way to transform an organization, because their rate of change is less than a worker whose baseline is pre-AI. Embracing AI workers Across town, Initialized Capital was hosting its own press dinner, introducing their portfolio of agentic startups deploying digital workers. Runway cofounder Siqi Chen told me from the moment he launched his startup in 2020, he knew they'd never have more than 100 people, because they had early access to GPT-3 and knew they could scale faster with AI, than headcount. In contrast to Crowe's hiring strategy, Chen said, Runway is hiring only senior talent. 'The profile of how we hire is quite different today than it was even three or four years ago. It's staff or principal level only at this point, because junior stuff can basically be done by LLMs today." 'We're seeing non-technical people contribute on a technical level like never before-- tagging a robot to write the code for a bug--that's just magic," he said. Runway uses bots for everything, from qualifying leads to reviewing documents. One of Initialized other portco commented that they deployed AI in Slack for IT support under the name of Paul, not AI Paul. A bit head-spinning to think you can be chatting with an AI colleague and not know it, even if they are funny. Initialized Capital's managing partner Brett Gibson said it's the natural progression of where we're heading. I asked him whether this was the end of the app economy. He replied, 'Software is going to trend towards being generatable. There are going to be a lot of apps you still want a relationship with for a variety of reasons, because they have other people on them and you're collaborating, or perhaps the AI itself has a personality you want to interact with. It's not going away, it's just going to have to adapt.' And what about humans, I asked, what's next for humans? 'The one thing that makes me very hopeful is that if there's anything AI is very good at, it's personalized education. And so hopefully, that will be the path for those feeling left out. People should follow whatever they're interested in and curious about because a high agency person using high leverage tools are going to do something cool and that's valuable," he said. AI gets the last word Back at AGI House, hanging out with hashtag inventor Chris Messina, I asked what advice he would give Gen Alpha on where to focus their energies, considering how pandemic losers have become AI winners, with ballet dancers, hair stylists and bartenders the few trades AI can't replace. 'VCs are over, SAS is over, everything that's been going on for the last 10 or 15 years kind of doesn't really make sense anymore,' he replied. 'If you really want to invest in the future, it's about having a perspective, being able to bring people into that and creating movements.' Echoing what Chen said: "There's only one Mr. Beast--and so if you develop relationship as a brand, that becomes sustainable value because AI cannot replace brand. Or can it? ChatGPT, may have no defensible moat as an AI assistant, but as a cultural icon with an estimated 1 billion followers, it remains pretty much untouchable. Just like the city from which it came.
