Bitcoin, ether and many other tokens have pulled back sharply from their 2025 peaks, yet remain far above their 2017 highs.
Too many coins
Analysts point first to XRP’s supply.
“Circulating supply grew 63%, from 38.7B in 2017 to 63.1B, while XRP’s total market value fell only about 3%,” said Nicolai Sondergaard, senior research analyst at analytics firm Nansen, to CoinDesk. “More XRP in circulation means each token represents a smaller share of roughly the same total value.”
Circulating supply refers to the number of coins currently in active circulation, and as it expands, each individual token comes to represent a diminishing slice of overall market value.
Oliver Carding, head of marketing at Tesseract Group, argues that evaluating XRP by its total valuation rather than price alone paints a different picture.
“When measured by value, XRP shows strength,” Carding explained. “Since roughly 63% more XRP exists today than at its recent peak, the same market cap would translate to a price modestly below current levels—approximately a 39% reduction.”
Tesseract, an institutional digital‑asset manager overseeing assets exceeding $500 million, emphasizes the importance of this metric.
Weaker demand
US‑listed exchange‑traded funds, or ETFs, have created channels for institutional investors to gain exposure to digital assets. While bitcoin and ether ETFs have attracted multi‑billion‑dollar inflows, XRP‑related funds have lagged considerably.
“ETF participation has been comparatively muted versus BTC and ETH,” noted Paul Howard, senior director at market‑making firm Wincent.
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