XRP has been one of the most talked-about cryptocurrencies for more than a decade. XRP is a digital currency that Ripple, a tech company, uses to help banks and businesses send money around t
XRP has been one of the most talked-about cryptocurrencies for more than a decade. XRP is a digital currency that Ripple, a tech company, uses to help banks and businesses send money around the world quickly and cheaply.
Gold has been a store of value for thousands of years. Here is how a $1,000 investment in each would have performed if it had been made when XRP first started trading.
The XRP Ledger was created in 2012, but daily price data on CoinMarketCap begins in August, 2013. At that time, XRP traded at about $0.0058 per token. A $1,000 investment would have bought roughly 172,400 XRP.
Gold was trading approximately $1,300 per ounce in early August 2013. The same $1,000 would have bought about 0.77 ounces.
Related: Analyst says XRP could be ready for a big move
As per latest data, XRP now trades at about $1.50. That means the 172,400 XRP bought in 2013 would be worth about $258,000, a gain of nearly 26,000%.
Gold has also risen strongly. According to its latest value at about $4,190 per ounce, the 0.77 ounces would now be worth about $3,200, a gain of roughly 220%.
In other words, XRP turned $1,000 into about 80 times more money than gold did over the same period.
XRP's path has been far bumpier. It hit an all-time high of $3.84 on January 4, 2018. At that point, the same holding would have been worth about $662,000. Today, XRP is around 60% below that peak and down more than 47% over the past year.
Gold has had its own swings. It reached a record high of about $5,608 per ounce in January 2026, when the 0.77 ounces would have been worth about $4,300. It has since pulled back by roughly 25%.
XRP delivered far bigger returns, but with much sharper drops along the way.
An investor would have needed to hold through several crashes, including years when XRP traded well below its 2018 peak.
Gold grew more slowly but with smaller declines. However, past performance does not guarantee future results.
