XRP Called Oct 20, 2026 at $1.32. Since then: 0% against bitcoin. Score today: 50 out of 100 under our published rule.
| Track record | +10 |
|---|---|
| Size (top 20) | +10 |
| Trading activity | −10 |
| Coins still to come | −5 |
| Distance from peak | −5 |
What would change it: It would move up to Buy at 78 (28 points higher) and down to Reject below 42 (9 points lower). Every call is tracked on the Scorecard.
Research, not financial advice. A verdict rates the coin's health under a fixed rule; it is not a price prediction or advice for your situation. Crypto can lose most or all of its value.
What it is
XRP is the native coin of the XRP Ledger, a public blockchain launched in 2012 for fast, cheap payments and currency exchange. The people who built it went on to found the company now called Ripple, which uses XRP in some of its cross-border payment products and is the largest single holder of the coin. The ledger also supports other tokens, a built-in exchange and, since late 2024, Ripple's own dollar stablecoin, RLUSD.
The XRP Ledger does not use mining or staking. Independent servers called validators agree on each new version of the ledger every few seconds. Each server operator picks a list of validators it trusts, and most use a recommended default list. Payments settle in a few seconds, and the tiny fees are destroyed rather than paid to anyone.
All 100 billion XRP were created at the start, and no more can ever be made. A large share went to Ripple, which locked tens of billions of coins in escrow in 2017. Up to 1 billion XRP unlocks each month, and Ripple usually sends most of it back into escrow. Because fees are burned, total supply shrinks very slowly over time.
What can go wrong
- Ripple still controls a very large amount of XRP, both in escrow and in its own wallets. How and when it sells affects the market, and holders depend on the company's choices.
- Most server operators trust validators from a short recommended list, so the network leans on a small group of list publishers. Critics argue this is more centralized than mining or staking networks.
- The SEC sued Ripple in 2020 over XRP sales. A 2023 ruling found that direct sales to institutions broke securities law while exchange trading did not, and the case ended in August 2025 with Ripple paying a $125 million penalty and a court order limiting institutional sales.
- In February 2025 the ledger stopped confirming transactions for about an hour before recovering. No funds were lost, but payments stalled.
Exchanges usually ask for a destination tag along with the XRP address, and leaving it off is one of the most common ways deposits go missing. Every XRP account must also keep a small reserve balance that cannot be withdrawn.
Safety checks
- Track recordGoodTrading since 2013, about 13 years. It has been through at least one full market cycle.
- Trading activityCaution$1.55 billion traded in the last 24 hours, 1.9% of its market value. That's thin for its size: big holders selling could move the price more than you'd expect.
- Coins still to comeCaution63.13 billion of 100.00 billion maximum coins are in circulation, so about 37% are still to be released. New coins entering the market can push the price down as they're sold.
- Distance from its peakCautionDown 64% from its all-time high of $3.65 in July 2025. Many buyers from the peak are still underwater, and they often sell into any rally.
- Past yearFor context−46.2% over the past year, against −25.3% for bitcoin. It has done worse than simply holding bitcoin.
- Contract powersGoodThis is the native coin of its own network, not a token issued by a smart contract, so there's no owner key that can mint, freeze or tax it. Changes to the rules go through the network's upgrade process.
History of trouble and big events
- 2020: The SEC sued Ripple and two of its executives, and several U.S. exchanges suspended XRP trading.
- 2023: A federal judge ruled that XRP sold on exchanges was not offered as a security, while direct sales to institutions were.
- 2025: The ledger paused for about an hour on February 4; in August the SEC case formally ended with the $125 million penalty in place.
Holding a token on a smaller network, or got sent one you don't recognize? Run its address through the free checker. Copycat tokens often borrow big names.