XRP has struggled to deliver the long-term gains seen in Bitcoin, Ether and several other leading cryptocurrencies, remaining well below its previous market-cycle peak while many competitors have surpassed their historical records.

Although holding crypto for years is often promoted as a way to build wealth, XRP’s performance demonstrates that long-term investors have not benefited equally across the market.

The cryptocurrency, which supports payments on the XRP Ledger, ranks as the world’s fifth-largest digital asset by market capitalization. Despite its prominent position, XRP has yet to sustain a recovery above its record from the 2017–2018 bull market.

Trading at approximately $1.33, XRP sits around 62.5% below its January 2018 peak of $3.55. Investors who purchased the token near that record and continued holding it for almost nine years would still face substantial losses. XRP briefly reached a new high of $3.66 in July 2025 before retreating sharply.

Other major cryptocurrencies have generated stronger returns compared with their previous cycle peaks. Bitcoin has gained 314% from its December 2017 high of $19,804, while Dogecoin has risen 322% from its January 2018 record. BNB has climbed approximately 2,800%, Ether has advanced 66%, and Zcash (ZEC) has gained 38%. Tron remains about 4% below its former peak. Solana launched in 2020, so it has no comparable high from the 2017–2018 cycle.

Bitcoin, Ether and other major tokens have also fallen considerably from their 2025 highs, but their prices remain well above levels recorded during the previous major crypto bull market.

Rising Supply Creates a Challenge for XRP

Analysts point to the growth in XRP’s circulating supply as one explanation for the token’s weaker price performance.

Nicolai Sondergaard, a senior research analyst at Nansen, told CoinDesk that XRP’s circulating supply expanded by 63%, rising from 38.7 billion tokens in 2017 to 63.1 billion. Over the same period, the cryptocurrency’s total market capitalization fell by only around 3%.

Circulating supply represents the number of tokens available in the market. As more tokens enter circulation, each one accounts for a smaller proportion of the asset’s overall market value. Without a corresponding increase in demand, a larger supply can make it more difficult for a token’s price to regain its previous high.

Oliver Carding, head of marketing at Tesseract Group, said XRP’s performance looks more favorable when measured by total market capitalization instead of its individual token price.

Carding argued that XRP has recovered in terms of overall market value. However, with approximately 63% more tokens circulating than at the previous peak, an equivalent circulating market capitalization would correspond to a price roughly 39% lower.

Tesseract Group is an institutional digital asset management company with more than $500 million in assets under management.

XRP Funds Trail Bitcoin and Ether in Institutional Demand

The arrival of U.S.-listed cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds has made it easier for institutional investors to gain exposure to digital assets. Bitcoin and Ether ETFs have attracted substantial capital, but XRP investment products have seen more limited inflows.

Paul Howard, senior director at market-making firm Wincent, told CoinDesk that XRP ETF adoption has been relatively weak compared with the demand for Bitcoin and Ether funds.

Data from SoSoValue indicates that XRP funds have accumulated approximately $1.80 billion in net inflows since launching nearly a year ago. Bitcoin ETFs, by contrast, can attract more than $1 billion in a single trading session.

Other indicators also suggest reduced activity across XRP markets. Nansen data shows that spot trading volume has dropped 53.5%, perpetual futures volume has declined 44%, and active addresses have decreased by 10.7%.

These changes point to weaker trading participation, which could make it harder for XRP to maintain a sustained upward trend.

Ripple’s Focus on Payments Shapes XRP’s Market Narrative

Ripple’s business strategy may also help explain the difference between XRP and competing cryptocurrencies. The company associated with the token has concentrated on cross-border payments, payment infrastructure, its RLUSD stablecoin and trade-financing solutions rather than focusing heavily on other rapidly expanding areas of the crypto market.

Decentralized finance, artificial intelligence projects and memecoins have attracted considerable investor attention and capital. Some competing blockchain ecosystems have also developed closer links with traditional financial services.

Howard said Ripple has invested substantial effort in payment infrastructure, RLUSD and trade-financing products built around the XRP Ledger. This broader business strategy has shifted some attention away from XRP’s role as an individual investment asset.

The range of investment opportunities available to crypto investors has also expanded. According to Howard, decentralized finance has become an important part of the investment case for Ether, Solana and Hyperliquid’s HYPE token, while XRP has placed less emphasis on that sector.

Regulatory Uncertainty Weighed on XRP

Ripple’s extended legal dispute with U.S. regulators is another factor cited in discussions about XRP’s performance.

In December 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple and two company executives, alleging that Ripple 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 sales 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 sides dropped their appeals.

Carding said the prolonged regulatory uncertainty helps explain why XRP failed to regain its 2018 peak during the 2021 cryptocurrency bull market. Coinbase’s decision to suspend XRP trading during the legal 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, the token has lost approximately 59%, compared with a 32% decline for Bitcoin and a 44% drop for Ether. XRP’s circulating market capitalization has also fallen by roughly 56% over the same period.

The figures suggest that resolving the legal dispute did not automatically translate into a sustained improvement in XRP’s price performance.

Several Older Cryptocurrencies Have Also Failed to Recover

XRP is not the only digital asset trading below its early 2018 levels. Carding noted that six of the nine other cryptocurrencies that ranked among the top 10 in January 2018 are trading even further below their prices from that period.

For those tracking XRP’s performance, Carding recommends watching the token’s price against Bitcoin, monthly distributions following Ripple’s escrow releases and changes in investment fund holdings.

The interaction between supply and demand is particularly important. If XRP continues to underperform Bitcoin while the amount of newly distributed tokens declines, that could suggest investor demand remains too weak to absorb the available supply.

Ultimately, XRP’s ability to close the performance gap with Bitcoin and Ether will depend on several factors, including circulating supply, institutional investment, trading activity and sustained demand for the XRP Ledger ecosystem. Its use in cross-border payments may support adoption, but wider utility alone does not guarantee stronger price returns for token holders.