Ripple’s XRP updived by 30% today, march 17, coming on heels of bullish whale accumulations. Meanwhile, on March 15, 2025, XRP hit its highest price in five years against Ethereum (ETH). It reached a critical resistance level at 0.00128 ETH. This is a huge jump from its all-time low of 0.00013 ETH back in June 2024—about 925% higher. The surge also shows a 620% gain since November 2024, right after the U.S. presidential election.
XRP/ETH 5-day live price chart. Source: TradingView
XRP on the Verge of Flipping Ethereum?
Now, as XRP tests that 0.0012 ETH resistance again, people are wondering: Could XRP actually pass Ethereum in market cap? According to market analyst Dom, this resistance level has always been a key point. Every time XRP has broken past it, it’s sparked big rallies. Past gains of at least 160% followed each breach.
Dom pointed to breakout moments in 2017 and 2018 when XRP shot up after breaking the same level. With XRP back at that level now, some are thinking a similar breakout could push XRP ahead of Ethereum, especially since Ethereum seems to be struggling a bit in 2025.
XRP Closing the Gap with Ethereum’s Market Cap
As of March 16, XRP’s market cap hit $138 billion, only $100 billion shy of Ethereum. Earlier this week, XRP even briefly surpassed Ethereum’s fully diluted valuation (FDV), which includes tokens not yet in circulation. That’s a big deal since FDV shows the total potential value, not just what’s in the market right now.
XRP’s rise—up over 300% since November 2024—has come as Ethereum’s market share dropped by 35%. Fewer traders seem interested in Ether these days, and XRP is taking advantage of that, growing its presence.
Why Ethereum Is Struggling While XRP Grows
Why is this happening? A lot has to do with the changing U.S. regulatory scene. Under President Trump, the U.S. has been friendly to crypto, with regulators making moves that benefit digital assets. XRP, especially, has done well, thanks to Ripple’s focus on enterprise users and the new DeFi roadmap it introduced for institutional investors.
Ethereum, on one side, is facing more competition from blockchains like Solana. Solana offers faster, cheaper transactions, making it commonplace for DeFi, NFTs, and memecoins. Even Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade last year March, which slashed transaction fees by 95%, hasn’t been enough to stop its decline. The increase in ETH supply, due to lower burn rates, has weakened its deflationary appeal.
Solana’s market share has been growing, while Ethereum’s hold on the space is slipping. Traders and developers are turning to Solana for faster, cheaper options.
Can XRP Surpass Ether?
As XRP continues testing key resistance levels, it’s looking more likely it could surpass Ethereum in market cap. If XRP breaks through the 0.0012 ETH barrier and keeps pushing forward, it might just take Ethereum’s spot as the second-largest crypto. But Ethereum’s future will depend on whether it can bounce back and regain its edge over rivals like Solana. The next few months should tell us a lot.
XRP is expected to rise by 50% to $3.34 by March 30, per Coinfomania analytics. Albeit, current trends suggest a bearish outlook with 16 out of 30 days in the green and a price volatility of -14.12% over the past month.
At present, XRP is exchanging at $2.34, down by 0.48% in the last 24 hours but up 7.20% over the past week.