XRP’s Wealth-Building Promise Falls Short of Bitcoin and Ethereum’s Success

XRP has lagged behind Bitcoin, Ether and several other major cryptocurrencies in delivering long-term returns, remaining significantly below its previous bull-market record while many competing assets have climbed beyond their historical highs.

Although buying and holding cryptocurrencies is often promoted as a strategy for accumulating wealth, XRP’s performance highlights how dramatically investment outcomes can differ between digital assets.

The payments-oriented cryptocurrency, which operates on the XRP Ledger, ranks fifth among cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Despite its size and established position in the industry, XRP has struggled to recover its peak from the 2017–2018 market cycle.

XRP is trading at around $1.33, approximately 62.5% below its record of $3.55 reached in early January 2018. Investors who purchased the token at that price and held it for nearly nine years would still be facing substantial losses. Although XRP briefly climbed to $3.66 in July 2025, it subsequently reversed course and fell back below its previous record.

Several other cryptocurrencies have delivered stronger returns relative to their earlier cycle highs. Bitcoin has risen 314% from its December 2017 peak of $19,804, while Dogecoin has gained 322% from its January 2018 high. BNB has advanced approximately 2,800%, Ether has increased 66%, and Zcash (ZEC) has climbed 38%. Tron remains about 4% below its previous peak, while Solana launched in 2020 and therefore has no comparable high from the 2017–2018 cycle.

Despite substantial corrections from their 2025 peaks, Bitcoin, Ether and many other established tokens continue to trade considerably above their levels from the previous major cryptocurrency bull market.

XRP’s Increasing Supply May Be Limiting Price Growth

Analysts point to the expansion of XRP’s circulating supply as one potential explanation for its weaker performance relative to other leading cryptocurrencies.

Nicolai Sondergaard, a senior research analyst at Nansen, told CoinDesk that XRP’s circulating supply grew by 63%, increasing from 38.7 billion tokens in 2017 to 63.1 billion. Over the same period, the token’s overall market capitalization declined by only approximately 3%.

Circulating supply measures how many tokens are available in the market. When the number of circulating coins increases, each individual token represents a smaller share of the cryptocurrency’s total market value. If demand does not rise sufficiently to absorb the additional supply, the price may struggle to regain its previous highs.

Oliver Carding, head of marketing at Tesseract Group, said XRP’s performance appears more favorable when evaluated through its market capitalization rather than its price per token.

According to Carding, XRP has recovered more effectively in terms of total market value than its price chart suggests. However, with approximately 63% more tokens circulating than at the previous peak, an equivalent circulating market capitalization would imply a token price roughly 39% lower.

Tesseract Group is an institutional digital asset management firm overseeing more than $500 million in assets.

Institutional Investment in XRP Trails Bitcoin and Ether

The introduction of U.S.-listed cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds has given institutional investors additional ways to gain exposure to digital assets. Bitcoin and Ether ETFs have attracted substantial amounts of capital, while XRP investment products have seen comparatively weaker demand.

Paul Howard, senior director at market-making firm Wincent, told CoinDesk that investor uptake for XRP ETFs has been limited relative to Bitcoin and Ether funds.

Data from SoSoValue shows that XRP funds have attracted approximately $1.80 billion in cumulative net inflows since their launch nearly a year ago. Bitcoin ETFs, by contrast, can attract more than $1 billion in a single trading day.

Other indicators suggest that activity in the XRP market has also weakened. Nansen data shows that spot trading volume has dropped 53.5%, perpetual futures volume has declined 44%, and active addresses have decreased 10.7%.

These figures indicate reduced trading activity and participation, potentially making it more difficult for XRP to sustain a prolonged price recovery.

Ripple’s Focus on Payments Sets XRP Apart

Ripple’s business strategy may also help explain why XRP has underperformed some competing digital assets. The company associated with the token has concentrated on cross-border payment infrastructure, its RLUSD stablecoin and trade-financing products rather than aggressively pursuing every emerging cryptocurrency trend.

Sectors such as decentralized finance, artificial intelligence and memecoins have attracted significant investor interest and capital. Some competing blockchain ecosystems have also established stronger connections with traditional financial markets.

Howard said Ripple has devoted considerable resources to developing payment systems, expanding RLUSD and building trade-financing products around the XRP Ledger. This broader business focus has directed some attention away from XRP as a standalone investment asset.

The range of investment opportunities in the cryptocurrency market has expanded as well. Howard noted that decentralized finance has become an important part of the investment narratives surrounding Ether, Solana and Hyperliquid’s HYPE token, while XRP has not pursued the sector to the same extent.

Regulatory Uncertainty Affected XRP’s Market Performance

Ripple’s lengthy legal dispute with U.S. regulators is another factor analysts cite when explaining XRP’s weaker price performance.

In December 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple and two of its executives, alleging that the company had raised approximately $1.3 billion through XRP sales that should have been registered as securities offerings.

A federal judge ruled in 2023 that XRP transactions on public exchanges did not constitute securities offerings, while certain sales to institutional investors did. Ripple was ordered to pay a $125 million penalty in 2024. The case concluded in August 2025, when both parties withdrew their appeals.

Carding said the prolonged legal uncertainty helps explain why XRP failed to regain its previous high during the 2021 cryptocurrency bull market. Coinbase’s suspension of XRP trading during the dispute also affected the token’s market environment.

He noted that the appeals were dropped in August 2025, when XRP was trading above $3. Since then, XRP has fallen approximately 59%, compared with declines of 32% for Bitcoin and 44% for Ether. The token’s circulating market capitalization has also dropped by roughly 56% during the same period.

The figures suggest that the resolution of the regulatory dispute did not, by itself, produce a sustained recovery in XRP’s price.

XRP Is Not the Only Cryptocurrency Below Its Previous Peak

XRP’s struggles are not unique among older digital assets. Carding pointed out that six of the other nine cryptocurrencies that ranked among the top 10 in January 2018 are trading even further below their prices from that period.

For investors following XRP, Carding recommends monitoring its performance against Bitcoin, monthly token distributions following Ripple’s escrow releases and changes in investment fund holdings.

The relationship between circulating supply and investor demand is particularly important. If XRP continues to underperform Bitcoin while the volume of newly distributed tokens declines, it could indicate that buying interest remains insufficient to absorb the available supply.

Ultimately, XRP’s ability to narrow the gap with Bitcoin and Ether will depend on several factors, including circulating supply, institutional investment flows, market participation and sustained demand for the XRP Ledger ecosystem. Its role in cross-border payments may encourage adoption, but payment utility alone does not guarantee stronger investment returns for token holders.