The XRP price history is a fascinating story of boom cycles, regulatory battles, and technological milestones. From its launch in 2012 to its near all-time high in 2025, XRP has been one of the most volatile and closely followed digital assets in the cryptocurrency market.
2012–2016: Early Years. XRP launched in 2012 at fractions of a cent. The XRP Ledger architects gifted 80 billion XRP to Ripple to build use cases, including RippleNet. Through this period, XRP traded below $0.01 as Ripple focused on building institutional partnerships rather than retail adoption.
2017: First Major Bull Run. XRP exploded from under $0.01 in early 2017 to an all-time high of $3.84 on January 4, 2018 — an increase of over 36,000% in a single year. This made Ripple briefly the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surpassing Ethereum. The rally was driven by the broader 2017 crypto bull market and speculation around bank adoption of RippleNet.
XRP's all-time high of $3.84 was set on January 4, 2018. It is currently trading 62% below that peak, still 51,184% above its all-time low of $0.002686.
CoinGecko, April 2026
2018–2020: Bear Market. Following the 2017 peak, XRP declined sharply throughout 2018 and 2019 alongside the broader crypto bear market. The all-time low of $0.1055 was recorded on March 13, 2020 during the COVID-19 market crash. Despite this, Ripple continued expanding its institutional network throughout the downturn.
2021: COVID Recovery & SEC Shock. XRP recovered strongly in early 2021 as crypto markets boomed, but the SEC lawsuit filed in December 2020 capped gains significantly. While Bitcoin and Ethereum hit new all-time highs, XRP was delisted from several US exchanges and underperformed peers throughout 2021–2024.
2025: Legal Resolution & New Highs. The SEC lawsuit resolution in August 2025 triggered the most significant XRP rally since 2017. XRP surged from around $0.50 to a 2025 high of $3.65 on July 18, 2025 — just $0.19 short of the 2018 all-time high. By January 2026, XRP rose to $2.41 before retreating to the current consolidation range of $1.20–$1.67.
