XRP has failed to make holders rich like bitcoin and ether. Here’s why

Bitcoin, ether and many other tokens have pulled back sharply from their 2025 peaks, yet remain far above their 2017 highs.

Too many coins

Analysts point first to XRP’s supply.

"Circulating supply grew 63%, from 38.7B in 2017 to 63.1B, while XRP's total market value fell only about 3%," Nicolai Sondergaard, senior research analyst at analytics firm Nansen, told CoinDesk. "More XRP in circulation means each token represents a smaller share of roughly the same total value."

Circulating supply is the number of coins on the market, and as it grows, each coin represents a smaller share of the total.

Oliver Carding, head of marketing at Tesseract Group, says XRP looks better when measured by total value instead of price.

"On value, XRP recovered," he said. "About 63% more XRP is in circulation than at that peak, so the same circulating market capitalization would mean a price roughly 39% lower."

Tesseract is an institutional digital asset management firm that manages over $500 million in assets under management.

Weaker demand

U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, have opened the door for institutional investors to take exposure to digital assets. While bitcoin and ether funds have pulled in billions, XRP funds have lagged big time.

"ETF uptake has also been muted relative to $BTC and $ETH," said Paul Howard, senior director at market-making firm Wincent.