- XRP is suddenly the third-largest cryptocurrency.
- The token is highly popular among retail investors, say experts.
- Stablecoin comparisons are, however, a mismatch.
At just under $3, XRP is suddenly the industry’s third-largest cryptocurrency.
Along the way, the token unseated the $159 billion stablecoin heavyweight Tether after an eye-watering 30% rally this week.
XRP, which powers Ripple’s various cross-border payment solutions, has enjoyed a series of tailwinds over the last few weeks.
The biggest of which was a surging crypto market that’s sent total capitalisation soaring toward $3.9 trillion after adding $444 billion this past week alone.
“XRP enjoys significant retail awareness, interest, and easy-accessibility given its availability across most trading platforms,” Carlos Guzman, an analyst with market maker GSR, told DL News.
“XRP tends to perform quite well when crypto as a whole rallies, as we’re seeing now and as we saw towards the end of last year.”
Key developments
In the span of two weeks, Bitcoin broke consecutive record highs in quick succession as institutional investors poured billions into spot exchange-traded funds.
Likewise, Ether, a laggard among top cryptocurrencies, finally reclaimed $3,000 on July 11, a price not seen since February.
Still, there are key developments within the XRP ecosystem helping to drive the token’s recent standout performance.
This week, ProShares is expected to launch three XRP funds tied to futures, or derivatives that let traders bet on the token’s price moves.
A similar product for fund provider Teucrium enjoyed booming volumes on July 11, suggesting traditional investors have a growing appetite for betting on the token.
The XRP ETFs seeing surge in volume today, like 4-5x the norm, especially the 2x one $XXRP, which is up 27% today, 55% this week with $120m in volume.. Teucrium rewarded for getting out early.. ht @Todd_Sohn pic.twitter.com/Bk8hsNFhW1
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) July 11, 2025
Meanwhile, Ripple’s native stablecoin, RLUSD, has seen a steadily increasing market cap since its launch in December.
The dollar-pegged token now boasts more than 500 million in circulation, with most of its activity on crypto exchanges Bullish and Bitstamp, according to CoinGecko.
The two platforms make up nearly 60% of all trading volume for the stablecoin.
With landmark stablecoin legislation on the docket in the US, experts suggest XRP could also enjoy a boost should dollar tokens become legal and ubiquitous state-side.
“Given Ripple’s focus on institutional payments and the recent growth of Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD, the market appears to believe XRP is well-positioned to benefit greatly from this happening,” Guzman said.
Apples and oranges
Still, some say XRP’s leap above Tether is a mismatched comparison.
“Comparing TetherUSD’s market cap to XRP’s may seem notable, but it’s not as meaningful as it sounds,” Ben Caselin, chief marketing officer of crypto exchange VALR, told DL News. “TetherUSD is a stablecoin, and its market cap grows as a result of minting, while XRP has a fluctuating price.”
And with fresh developments surrounding Ripple’s push into smart contracts via XRP Ledger, the real contest will be if the token can vault past Ethereum.
At a whopping $377 billion, overtaking Ether would mean XRP would have to more than double in price.
“XRP has outperformed Ethereum this week,” Caselin said. “But it’s unlikely to surpass Ethereum for the second-largest market cap spot any time soon.”
Liam Kelly is DL News’ Berlin-based DeFi correspondent. Got a tip? Email at liam@dlnews.com.
