XRP vs Ethereum: Which Crypto Will Reach Its All-Time High First?

XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) trades around $1.50 after surviving a 37% flash crash that pulled the token toward $1.44 on August 22 from $1.62. The coin trades roughly 61% below its January 2018 all-time high of $3.84. Meanwhile, Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) trades around $2,460 and remains about 50% below its August 2025 all-time high of $4,953. 

To reclaim their respective ATHs, XRP needs a 156% rally, while Ethereum needs a smaller but equally difficult 101% gain. But with Ethereum’s ATH just nine months old and XRP’s ATH now more than eight years old, which crypto will reclaim its all-time high first? 

How XRP and Ethereum Have Traded in 2026

After a bearish Q4 2025 that saw XRP fall by 35.4% to $1.84 and Ethereum drop by 28.4% to $2,960, both cryptos continued their bearish momentum into Q1 2026, as seen in the table below.

The U.S. and Iran conflicts escalated in January and risk appetite for crypto assets collapsed as the news hit the market. XRP fell 10.6% in January and another 16.2% in February, before easing to a 2.79% drop in March, bringing its cumulative Q1 performance to -27.1%. 

Ethereum, meanwhile, fell even steeper over the same stretch, down 17.7% and 19.6% in January and February, before closing March in the green zone at 7.07%. The recovery was driven by increased ETF demand and continued ETH outflows from major exchanges, which reduced immediate supply pressure, but ETH still ended Q1 near $2,097, a 29.1 quarterly loss.