Ripple Expands but XRP Loses $117B In Market Value

XRP’s share of the total crypto market capitalization has dropped from about 5% in July 2025 to nearly 3% in October 2026. This decline mostly reflects a relative loss of value compared to other digital assets and does not mean that the use of the XRP Ledger has decreased by the same proportions.

XRP Capitalization Loses About 117 Billion Dollars

XRP was trading around 3.42 dollars in July 2025, when its circulating supply reached about 59.2 billion tokens. Its capitalization then exceeded 202 billion dollars, about 5% of a crypto market valued around 4 trillion dollars.

The token currently trades near 1.37 dollars, with about 63.1 billion XRP in circulation. Its capitalization has fallen back to around 86 billion dollars, representing a drop close to 57% and a loss of about 116 billion.

At the same time, the total crypto market value stands around 2.8 trillion dollars. XRP thus accounts for about 3.1%, behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and BNB.

This share, often called dominance, is calculated as follows :

• XRP’s capitalization divided by the entire market capitalization ;
• XRP’s capitalization obtained by multiplying its price by the circulating supply ;
• The result expressed as a percentage to measure its relative weight ;
• The indicator sensitive to the XRP price as well as to that of other cryptos.

A declining dominance does not necessarily mean that money is directly leaving XRP. It can also decrease when other assets grow faster or hold up better during a general correction.

Supply Increase Has Limited Capitalization Drop

XRP’s circulating supply has increased by about 3.9 billion tokens since July 2025, a rise close to 6.6%. This increase partly comes from scheduled releases from Ripple’s escrow accounts.

As of June 30, 2026, about 32.6 billion XRP remained locked in these accounts. Ripple regularly performs unlockings, but unused tokens can be placed back under escrow. Therefore, a release does not automatically correspond to a sale on the market.

The supply increase is often presented as downward pressure on the price, as demand must absorb more available tokens. However, its real effect depends on the quantity effectively sold, held, or relocked.

From an arithmetic point of view, the additional supply even softened the capitalization drop. Without its expansion, the price decline would have produced an even lower total value. The main factor in the decline remains the price drop from 3.42 to about 1.37 dollars.

XRP now stands more than 62% below its all-time high of 3.65 dollars, reached on July 17, 2025. Over one year, its drop approaches 47%.

XRP Ledger Adoption Does Not Guarantee XRP Demand

The decline in dominance comes despite several announcements regarding institutional use of the XRP Ledger. In September, a Brazilian financial infrastructure operator managing nearly 4 trillion dollars in recorded assets began using the network to replicate property registries of funds.

Ripple is also expanding its activities in payments, asset custody, and tokenization. These advances can increase the XRP Ledger’s use without creating proportional demand for its native token.

Network fees remain extremely low. A standard transaction costs at least 10 drops, only 0.00001 XRP. Millions of additional operations can thus be executed without locking a significant amount of tokens.

Some institutions may also use Ripple’s technology or the RLUSD stablecoin without holding XRP permanently. A partnership announcement only supports the price if it creates real token purchases, reduces its available supply, or strengthens its relay asset role.

It is thus necessary to distinguish three often confused elements: Ripple’s commercial growth, XRP Ledger activity, and XRP’s market valuation.

ETFs and the Return of Altcoins Could Reverse the Trend

XRP’s dominance had strongly increased after its November 2024 rally, the end of the dispute between Ripple and the SEC, and the launch of exchange-traded products dedicated to the token. These events facilitated the arrival of new buyers.

To regain a share close to 5%, XRP should now grow much faster than the overall market. At a constant crypto capitalization of 2.8 trillion dollars, this level would require a value of about 140 billion for XRP, nearly 54 billion more.

Flows to XRP ETFs are one of the most direct levers, as their inflows generally require buying tokens. A new capital rotation from Bitcoin to altcoins could also improve its relative position.

Conversely, multiplying partnerships will not be enough if they produce no measurable demand. The drop from 5% to 3% thus reveals less a technical network decline than a weakening of XRP as an investment asset.

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.