XRP’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) has overtaken that of Ether (ETH), based on data from March 14.
This shift in FDV represents a significant change in prospects for both layer-1 (L1) blockchain networks associated with these tokens. The XRP Ledger’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem is gaining momentum, while Ethereum faces increased competition from other L1s like Solana.
As of March 14, XRP’s FDV reached nearly $235 billion, exceeding Ether’s by over $1 billion. Despite this, Ether maintains a higher market capitalization, valued at $233 billion compared to XRP’s $136 billion.
FDV calculates the total worth of all tokens that exist, whereas market capitalization only takes into account those tokens that are actively circulating.
Ripple Labs, the developer behind XRP, holds a significant multibillion-dollar reserve of the native token of its blockchain.
Shifting Dynamics
Since President Donald Trump won the U.S. elections on November 5, XRP’s price has surged over 300%, now sitting around $2.3 per token. Trump has expressed his ambition for the U.S. to become the “world’s crypto capital” and has appointed pro-crypto personnel to important regulatory positions.
The improving regulatory climate in the U.S. is particularly advantageous for XRP, which focuses on serving enterprise clients and announced an institutional DeFi strategy in February.
As of January, XRP’s native decentralized exchange (DEX) has processed over $1 billion in swap transactions since its launch in 2024. Additional support for the XRP token came when Trump indicated plans to include it in a proposed U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, alongside other cryptocurrencies like Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA). This stockpile will consist solely of assets obtained through law enforcement and legal avenues, rather than new cryptocurrency purchases.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly nearing the conclusion of an enforcement action against Ripple, which has troubled the XRP developer since 2020. The SEC has already dropped cases against other crypto companies like Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap.
In contrast, Ether’s market performance has faced challenges since March 2024, following the network’s Dencun upgrade that reduced transaction fees by about 95%. Currently, Solana’s trading volumes, which prioritize rapid transaction processing and were central to the memecoin craze in 2024, rival those of Ethereum along with all of its layer-2 scaling solutions combined.