2019 and the first few months of 2020 have been rough for XRP, with the embattled cryptocurrency losing over 40% of its value last year while currently trading down just a hair from where it started the new year at.
This weakness simply marks an extension of that which was first incurred when the crypto lost the explosive momentum that pushed it to highs of just under $4.00 in early-2018, with its rise to this level being closely followed by an unprecedented decline.
In spite of its weakness against both USD and BTC in the time following this crash, XRP is still outperforming Bitcoin over a macro timeframe.
XRP Severely Underperforms Bitcoin Throughout 2019 and 2020
The past couple of years haven’t been great for XRP, as the previously bullish token has been showing some extreme levels of weakness.
In 2019, the token kicked off the year at $0.36, before seeing some choppy price action throughout the year that ultimately resulted in it declining to lows of $0.18 in December of 2019 – ending the year down just under 50%.
This is in stark contrast to Bitcoin, which kicked off 2019 trading at $3,800 before rallying to highs of $13,000 in June. This rally shortly lost its strength after the crypto hit these highs, leading the benchmark cryptocurrency to decline until it closed the year at roughly $7,300.
Despite trading down significantly from its June highs, Bitcoin – unlike XRP – was able to close the year up just under 100%.
This Trend Is Strikingly Different Over a Larger Time Frame
Despite Bitcoin’s firm outperformance of XRP throughout 2019 and even 2020, the same cannot be said while zooming out and comparing the two cryptocurrencies’ pre-2017 bull run price action.
One popular pseudonymous trader spoke about the two digital assets in a recent tweet, explaining that XRP still remains an incredibly high performing macro-asset despite its short-term weakness.
“If you invested in XRP over BTC prior to the last bull run, your inv. would currently be worth 1.5x the value of a BTC investor who chose BTC. If you sold at the top, you would’ve made 10x more. Yet you will continue to see CT mocking holders for their ‘terrible investment’” he explained.
Time will tell as to whether or not this trend of XRP outperforming Bitcoin over a macro-scale will continue to hold strong, or if the token’s recent underperformance will ultimately cause it to erase its lead.
Featured image from Unsplash.