Grayscale recently tracked the top crypto assets by market capsince 2018, and data shows$XRPhas consistently ranked among the top 6.

Despite being one of the earliest crypto assets to launch after the advent of Bitcoin (BTC) in 2009, $XRPhas managed to maintainits relevance in the spacefor over 13 years. Grayscale confirmed tracking the top assets by market cap since 2018 and found that $XRPhas maintained a top 6position within this period.

Key Points

• $XRPremains one of the few pre-2015 crypto assets to retain its relevance.
• A recent Grayscale report confirms that since 2018, $XRPhas maintained a top 6position in the market.
• $XRP’s highest ranking was the second position, which it forfeited to Ethereum in 2020 and has failed to reclaim since.
• $XRPcollapsedto sixth,its lowest ranking, in 2022 amid the SEC lawsuit that startedin December 2020.
• Besides $XRPand Bitcoin, no pre-2015 coin is currently in the top 5.

Current $XRPRanking

Grayscale shared its reporton X amid the ongoing crypto market downturn thathas dealt a blow to asset prices since the fourth quarter of 2025.Notably, the altcoin market has lost $198 billion worth ofvaluation since the start of the year, and $XRPcontributes$26.5 billion tothis figure.

Interestingly, the token has held up better than $BNB, which has lost $35 billion within the same period despite having a lower market valuation overall.While $XRPhas occasionally relinquished its third spot to $BNBduring the downturn, it has often recovered it. At the time of the Grayscalesnapshot, $XRPheld third, holdingan $85 billion market cap.

Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) retained its second spot, which it has sustained overthe past six years, boasting a market capof $270 billion.As for Bitcoin, the crypto firstborn has had an unchallenged run at the top, remaining the only constant factor in the ranking with a current valuation of $1.44 trillion.

$XRP’s Historical Rankings

Launched in 2013, $XRPquickly worked its wayto the top 3 ranking in August, the same month it startedtrading publicly.During that period, the top 10 featured a list of tokens that most investors today would fail to recognize due to names that have lost their relevance in today’s market.

Specifically, Bitcoin led the ranking, with Litecoin in second and $XRPsecuring third. Fromfourth to eighth featured Namecoin (NMC), Peercoin (PPC), Feathercoin (FTC), Novacoin (NVC), and Primecoin (XPM). For context, all lists exclude stablecoins.

By the end of September 2014, $XRPhad overtaken Litecoin to become the second-largest crypto asset. It maintained this position until the launch of Ethereum in July 2015. From February 2016, the battle between $XRPand Ethereumfor the second spot began. $XRPeventually lost this battle in 2020, the same year the SEC lawsuit began.

$XRPMaintains Top 6 Spot

According to Grayscale’s report, $XRP’s lowest ranking since 2018 came in 2022 in the heat of the SEC lawsuit, which led to reduced trading volumes and delistings in the U.S. Notably, $XRPdropped to the sixth spot that year, slipping below $BNB, Solana ($SOL), and Cardano ($ADA).

While $XRPovertook $ADAand occasionally pushed above $SOLin the years that followed, it remained below $BNBuntil the November 2024 rally. This run allows $XRPto firmly recover its third spot. Meanwhile, during its period of underperformance, $XRPmanaged to maintain a top 6 spot, excluding stablecoins.

Since 2025, $XRPhas retainedthe third ranking, occasionally relinquishing it to $BNBduring market declines, but recoveringthe positionalmost immediately each time.

Interestingly, the Grayscale data confirms that Bitcoin and $XRPare the only pre-2018 tokens that have remained in the top 5 ranking at presstime.Dogecoin (DOGE), which launched in December 2013, ranks seventh. The rest of thepre-2015 tokens in the top 20 are Monero (13th), Stellar (14th), and Litecoin (17th). Of these tokens, only Litecoin launched before 2013.

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