What Is the Best Crypto to Buy Right Now: XRP or Bitcoin?

XRP and Bitcoin are heading into a week packed with regulatory votes and a Fed decision that could reshape both trades, and the better buy depends on a tradeoff most investors overlook.

XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) is trading around $1.35, while Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) is around $77,000. XRP remains about 65% below its January 2018 record of $3.84, while Bitcoin is roughly 39% below its October 2025 all-time high of $126,198.

That gap gives XRP more room to recover, but a larger distance from an old high doesn’t by itself make a coin the better buy. Bitcoin has the deeper institutional base and stronger liquidity, while XRP has delivered the larger recent rebound and carries a regulatory catalyst Bitcoin doesn’t have. The better choice depends less on how much room each coin has to rise and more on what’s actually driving demand for each one right now.

XRP Has Much Further to Go to Reclaim Its High

XRP reached its all-time high of $3.84 on January 4, 2018. At around $1.35 today, the token would need to gain roughly 184% to return to that level, taking it to about 2.84 times its current price. That leaves XRP with substantially more ground to recover than Bitcoin, though the size of the gap alone says nothing about how likely XRP is to close it.