XRP Closes Gap on Ethereum, Now 173% Rise Away from Overtaking ETH

$XRP appears to be closing the gap with Ethereum, now requiring just a 173% rise to overtake $ETH as the second-largest crypto asset.

While the broader crypto market downturn has impacted Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins, some assets have held up better than others. This is true for Ethereum and $XRP this year, as the former witnesses steeper declines, while the latter exhibits greater resilience against the predominant selling pressure.

This divergence in performance has now further closed the gap between Ethereum and $XRP, as $XRP price records an over 17% gain against $ETH this year. As a result, $XRP now requires just a 173% increase to overtake Ethereum as the second-largest crypto asset in the market.

Key Points

• The broader crypto market downturn has dealt a blow to all major assets, but some have held up better than others.
• While Ethereum and $XRP have both suffered declines this year, $XRP appears to be exhibiting greater resilience than the altcoin king.
• As a result, $XRP has increased more than 17% against Ethereum this year, rising from 0.0006199 $ETH to 0.0007250 $ETH.
• Due to the downturn, Ethereum’s market cap has dropped 35% this year to $233 billion, while $XRP’s valuation has declined 24% to $85 billion.
• At the current position, $XRP would only need a 173% increase in its price to overtake Ethereum as the second-largest crypto asset.

$XRP Showing Greater Resilience

According to market data, the broader crypto market has lost $653 billion this year amid the ongoing winter phase. Bitcoin, the firstborn crypto, contributes the most to this loss, having shed $404 billion since 2026 began. Meanwhile, Ethereum sees the second-largest contribution, with a decline of $124 billion.

Interestingly, while $XRP stands as the third-largest crypto asset (excluding stablecoins), it has not witnessed the third-largest drop in valuation, only seeing a $25.63 billion loss this year. For context, this is lower than the loss from $BNB (-$35.94 billion), and only slightly higher than Solana’s $23.04 billion drop.

This confirms that $XRP has shown greater resilience, only down 23.45% this year. This represents a better performance than Ethereum (-34.57%), $BNB (-29.52%), and Solana (-33.56%). Also, it is comparable to Bitcoin’s 23.15% decline, which is surprising, considering Bitcoin often sees lower volatility due to its larger market cap.

Due to this greater resilience, $XRP has only continued to gain against Ethereum this year. Notably, the $XRP/$ETH pair began the year at 0.0006199 but has now increased to 0.0007280. This represents a 17.4% increase year-to-date, as $XRP gains on the altcoin king.

$XRP Gains 17 Against Ethereum

$XRP Now Only Needs 173% Rise to Overtake $ETH

This divergence in price performance has continued to close the gap between Ethereum and $XRP, with $ETH losing more market valuation (-$124 billion) than $XRP (-$25.63 billion) within the same timeframe.

At press time, Ethereum now boasts a market cap of $233 billion, while $XRP’s valuation stands at $85.8 billion, representing a $147 billion difference. For $XRP to surpass Ethereum’s current valuation of $233 billion, its price would need to increase to $3.83 per token, considering the circulating supply of 61 billion tokens.

Meanwhile, $XRP currently changes hands at $1.4. To reach $3.83, the price would need to rise 173.5%. For perspective, at the start of this year, $XRP needed a 220% rise to overtake $ETH.

However, it is important to note that while the math seems straightforward, $XRP’s push to overtake Ethereum may not follow this pattern. Specifically, if the market recovers and $XRP surges 173%, Ethereum will likely witness its own upsurge. This development would demand a greater rally from $XRP than 173%.