XRP or Ethereum: Which Is the Smarter Buy After Ethereum’s 71% Surge?
Ethereum just posted a stunning 71% quarterly surge while XRP struggles to keep up, but recent price trends suggest the gap between these two crypto rivals may be narrowing fast. Before you decide where to put your money, the numbers…
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Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) has experienced an impressive 71% increase over the past 90 days, reaching around $2,711. Meanwhile, XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) has also seen gains, rising about 46% to $1.51 as of September 29, 2026. So, for investors deciding between XRP or Ethereum, Ethereum clearly leads in terms of recent performance.
However, both cryptocurrencies are still trading significantly lower than they were a year ago—Ethereum is down 35%, and XRP has fallen 47%. Since neither coin generates profits for comparison, analyzing price trends, distance from their all-time highs, and market value provides the best way to evaluate them. So, which is the smarter investment right now?
Ethereum Built Its Lead Over XRP in July, but XRP Has Kept Pace Since
Ethereum is a platform that allows developers to create smart contracts, which are programs that execute automatically when specific conditions are met. Users pay in ETH to utilize these contracts. On the other hand, XRP is the token of the XRP Ledger, designed for quick and cost-effective international money transfers.
In the last two months, Ethereum and XRP have both experienced similar growth rates, each up about 40%. Ethereum built most of its lead over XRP in July, when it jumped about 22% from roughly $1,560 to $1,910. During the same period, XRP rose only about 4%.
Since then, both coins have surged at a comparable pace, with Ethereum leading slightly over the past month—up 9% compared to XRP’s 8%. Currently, Ethereum is facing resistance near $2,800, about 3% above its current price.
XRP Needs 142% to Reach Its All-Time High, While Ethereum Needs 82%
Ethereum is currently trading about 45% below its all-time high of $4,946 from August 24, 2025, meaning it needs to rise about 82% to recover that peak. In contrast, XRP is about 59% below its record of $3.65 from July 2025, which translates to a required increase of about 142% to reach its previous high.
Supporters of XRP often point out that a deeper decline provides more opportunity for recovery. Nevertheless, a significant drop also suggests sellers have had more control over XRP for a longer period. So far in 2026, XRP has fallen around 18%, while Ethereum has only decreased by about 10%. Additionally, XRP has lost more over the past year.
Ethereum’s Market Value Is 3.5 Times XRP’s
While XRP’s price of $1.51 may seem attractive compared to Ethereum’s $2,711, a single coin’s price isn’t the whole story. Currently, approximately 62.9 billion XRP are in circulation, valued at roughly $95 billion. In comparison, around 122 million ETH are worth about $331 billion, which is about 3.5 times more than XRP.
This market-size difference shows up in daily trading volumes. Over a 24-hour period, about $15.8 billion worth of ETH is traded, while XRP sees around $3.6 billion. This higher trading volume means large Ethereum orders have less impact on its price than they do on XRP.
On the supply side, XRP has a maximum cap of 100 billion tokens, with about 37 billion yet to enter circulation, primarily from Ripple’s escrow. Conversely, Ethereum has no cap, as the network continuously creates new ETH to reward validators while also burning a portion of transaction fees.
Is XRP or Ethereum the Smarter Buy After Ethereum’s 71% Surge?
Given the recent performance and broader market context, Ethereum appears to be the smarter buy right now. It boasts stronger numbers over the past 90 days, requires a smaller increase to regain its all-time high, and benefits from significantly higher daily trading volumes. That said, XRP could still be a suitable option for those willing to endure more volatility, as it has kept pace with Ethereum over the past two months.
In conclusion, while Ethereum currently seems like the better investment following its remarkable 71% quarterly growth, this could shift as we approach late October. If XRP continues to close the gap in its 90-day gain, or if Ethereum’s price drops below $2,600—about 4% below its current price—the competitive landscape could change.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable—no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more—basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing
