XRP outshines Bitcoin and Ethereum as top-performing crypto

XRP has emerged as the best-performing asset among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization to start 2026, outpacing market leaders Bitcoin and Ethereum.

According to data from CryptoSlate, XRP has jumped by 28% since the start of the year to $2.37, its highest price level since November 2025.

In comparison, Bitcoin and Ethereum have registered gains of less than 10% over the same period, despite the broader market having seen improvements.

Considering this, XRP’s surge highlights a specific rotation of capital that appears driven by more than just general market beta.

The ETF absorption machine

The primary engine behind this rally appears to be a relentless bid from regulated investment vehicles in the United States.

Spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have absorbed capital at an accelerating rate, extending a “green streak” that has remained unbroken since the products launched on Nov. 13.

This trend has continued into the new year, with the five products registering inflows of nearly $60 million within the first two trading days of this year.

Consequently, the consistent buying pressure has accelerated rapidly, with cumulative inflows into spot XRP ETFs surpassing $1 billion.

Moreover, data from XPmarket shows that these funds are registering significant daily trading volumes. This suggests that professional allocators are not merely testing the waters but are actively building positions.

The scale of this capital rotation becomes stark when viewed against historical data.

Throughout 2024, XRP investment products attracted $608 million in investment. In 2025, that figure ballooned roughly fivefold to $3.69 billion.

So, the aggressive start to 2026 indicates that the appetite for exposure to the asset is intensifying rather than tapering off, providing a persistent tailwind for price discovery.

On-Chain liquidity and supply shock

Meanwhile, the price action is being exacerbated by a classic supply-side squeeze.

On-chain data indicates that the amount of XRP held on centralized exchanges has dropped to multi-year lows.

In the crypto markets, declining exchange balances are traditionally interpreted as a bullish signal, indicating that investors are moving assets into cold storage or custody solutions rather than leaving them idle for immediate sale.

With fewer tokens available on order books, the market has become highly sensitive to demand shocks.

This current dynamic is distinct because the liquidity usually associated with retail rallies is being supplanted by deep-pocketed institutional volume.

Data from CryptoQuant reveals a structural anomaly that underscores this bullish shift. The XRP Ledger (XRPL) decentralized exchange (DEX) liquidity has surged to $172.9 billion.

Typically, during periods of price consolidation or dips, liquidity tends to thin out as traders exit positions to avoid volatility.

However, the current trend points in the opposite direction: capital is flooding into order books. This liquidity injection suggests that market makers and large-scale liquidity providers are actively positioning themselves for a sustained trend reversal or a major volatility event.

The frequency and magnitude of these liquidity spikes, particularly those observed since Dec. 10, 2025, suggest the entry of institutional-grade market makers.

This creates an ecosystem where “whales,” entities holding massive amounts of capital, can execute large trades without destabilizing the price, making the asset significantly more attractive for high-volume portfolio rebalancing.

Technical confluence

Beyond the flow data, technical indicators from CryptoQuant also show that the rally is supported by robust market mechanics rather than fleeting hype.

The rally to $2.37 was characterized by a breakout from a falling wedge, a technical pattern often associated with bullish reversals.

So, this move was not organic buying alone; it was accelerated by a “short squeeze,” in which traders betting against the asset were forced to buy back their positions to cover losses.

Specifically, the breakout was supported by $5.8 million in short liquidations. These forced buy orders acted as a catalyst, providing the momentum to sustain the price move above the psychological $2.30 level.

Furthermore, the “Taker Buy Ratio,” a metric that gauges whether buyers or sellers are initiating trades, has crossed the critical 0.5 threshold. Values above this mark indicate that buyers are signaling dominant bullish sentiment, aggressively hitting the “ask” price rather than waiting for limit orders to fill.

This aggressive buying is validated by network utility metrics. The liquidity flooding the XRPL is not stagnant. The transaction count on the decentralized exchange has climbed to 890,268, indicating that increased market depth is meeting real, organic demand.

This confirms that capital entering the ecosystem is actively utilized rather than parked, further reinforcing the asset’s floor price.

Notably, the XRP derivatives market mirrors this optimism.

According to Coinglass data, open interest in XRP futures has climbed to nearly $4.5 billion, the highest level recorded since November.

Simultaneously, the asset’s derivatives volume has crossed the $10 billion mark for the first time in the same period.

Structural maturation

While price action dominates the headlines, the underlying infrastructure of the Ripple ecosystem has undergone a quiet but significant transformation.

Ripple, the company closely associated with the token, has strengthened its institutional capabilities through a series of strategic acquisitions. These include the purchase of custody firm Palisade, GTreasury, stablecoin firm Rail, and global prime broker Hidden Road, which has been rebranded as Ripple Prime.

By assembling a toolkit that resembles a traditional market-structure stack, the firm has created a more credible platform for enterprises to test on-chain settlement.

While these developments do not guarantee immediate increases in XRP’s utility usage, they remove operational friction for potential institutional adopters.

Taken together, these shifts explain why market participants are beginning to examine XRP through a new lens. It is moving away from being viewed solely as a speculative asset and is increasingly assessed as a potential utility component within a broader, regulated payments architecture.