Why XRP Has Lagged Bitcoin and Ether Despite Years of Trading

The core tenet of crypto investing is that holding digital assets over long horizons builds wealth. Yet that strategy has failed to deliver for investors in XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger and the fifth-largest digital asset by market value.

While bitcoin, ether, and other major tokens have climbed far above their previous cycle peaks from late 2017 and early 2018, XRP tells a different story. The token currently trades around $1.33, sitting 62.5% below its peak of $3.55 recorded in January 2018. Although XRP briefly surpassed that record to reach $3.66 in July 2025 before pulling back, a buyer from the early 2018 high remains underwater nearly nine years later.

By comparison, other legacy assets have performed far better. Bitcoin has surged over 300% from its December 2017 peak, and BNB has climbed roughly 2,800%. Ether and zcash have also posted gains above their 2017 highs, while XRP struggles to keep pace with the broader digital asset market.

The Mechanics of Supply Dilution

Analysts point to a sharp expansion in circulating supply as a primary driver behind XRP's muted price action. Nicolai Sondergaard, a senior research analyst at Nansen, notes that XRP's circulating supply grew 63% from 38.7 billion in 2017 to 63.1 billion, even though its total market value fell by only about 3%.

"More XRP in circulation means each token represents a smaller share of roughly the same total value," Sondergaard told CoinDesk. Oliver Carding, head of marketing at institutional digital asset management firm Tesseract Group, echoes this perspective. He explains that measuring XRP by total market capitalization rather than individual token price reveals a clearer picture of recovery, though dilution still weighs heavily on per-token gains.

Beyond supply dynamics, institutional access via exchange-traded funds has heavily favored other assets. Paul Howard, senior director at market-making firm Wincent, highlights that XRP fund uptake remains muted relative to bitcoin and ether. U.S.-listed XRP funds have pulled in just $1.80 billion since launching nearly a year ago, a figure that pales in comparison to bitcoin funds that regularly attract over $1 billion in a single day.

Regulatory Headwinds and Strategic Focus

Market participants also attribute XRP's relative underperformance to years of regulatory scrutiny. In December 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple and two of its executives, alleging the company raised $1.3 billion by selling XRP without registering it as a security.

Although a federal judge ruled in 2023 that public exchange sales were not securities offerings, the prolonged legal battle forced platforms like Coinbase to suspend trading during the 2021 bull run. The litigation finally concluded in August 2025 when both sides dropped their appeals, but the lingering uncertainty hampered the asset's integration into burgeoning sectors like decentralized finance.

While networks like Solana and Ethereum captured vast amounts of capital through decentralized finance and alternative use cases, Ripple prioritized building core cross-border payment infrastructure and trade financing products around the XRP Ledger.

What to watch

Carding advises market participants to monitor XRP's performance relative to bitcoin, alongside net monthly distribution metrics tied to Ripple's escrow releases. If XRP continues to show relative weakness even as the rate of new token distribution slows, it would signal persistently weak investor demand for the asset.