XRP is Outperforming Ethereum for Five Months Straight — Will XRP/ETH Explode in 2025?

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — XRP (XRP) has outperformed Ethereum (ETH) for five consecutive months, marking a historic streak in the XRP/ETH trading pair. The last time XRP showed this level of dominance was during brief bursts in 2017 and 2018, each followed by parabolic rallies, as shown below.

Will XRP Rise More Than ETH in 2025?

XRP/ETH, an instrument that tracks XRP’s strength against Ethereum, has reclaimed the 0.0012 level—a resistance that capped price action for nearly eight years—and flipped it into support in April. Historically, every breakout above this level triggered a vertical move.

For instance, in early and late 2017, XRP gained over 250% against ETH shortly after retesting this zone. In 2018, the Ripple crypto rallied 167% under similar conditions. The current price structure mirrors those earlier setups, as shown in the chart below.

XRP has cleared the same resistance, retested it, and is now pushing higher. If this pattern holds, XRP could be on the verge of another breakout in 2025. Interestingly, the weekly XRP/ETH chart suggests an impending correction due to a wide divergence between rising prices and falling relative strength index (RSI).

In technical terms, this “bearish divergence” indicates a lack of momentum for further upside. This suggests that the pair could drop toward its next line of support near the 50-week exponential moving average (50-week EMA; the red wave) at 0.00066, down about 50% from the current levels. Moreover, the weekly RSI has been consolidating above 70 for months, indicating overbought conditions. This typically precedes a correction period. On the positive note, if XRP/ETH holds strong above the 50-week EMA support, its likelihood of continuing its upside momentum in 2025 will likely be high.

XRP Fundamentals Support a Bullish Outlook Against Ethereum

Fundamentally, XRP is looking stronger than Ethereum due to an influx of positive news in recent months.

For instance, in March, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) formally dropped its appeal in the case against Ripple, ending over a four-year legal battle over XRP’s classification as a security. The decision followed a series of courtroom setbacks for the agency, effectively removing one of the biggest regulatory overhangs in XRP’s history.

Moreover, on April 8, Teucrium Investment Advisors launched the first U.S.-listed leveraged XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF), the Teucrium 2x Long Daily XRP ETF (ticker: XXRP). The fund aims to deliver twice the daily performance of XRP and recorded approximately $5 million in trading volume on its first day, placing it among the top 5% of all new ETF launches.

XRP also gained political backing after President Trump included it in the U.S. crypto reserve in March, which sparked a $44 billion surge in its market cap afterward.

Ethereum Faces ETF Outflows and Technical Delays, Meanwhile

US Ethereum ETFs have witnessed a series of daily outflows in the past weeks, with their net assets under management falling by $930 million from the yearly peak of $3.19 billion. As of April 17, these spot ETFs collectively held $2.27 billion worth of ETH.

Ether’s spot market has behaved similarly, with its price per token dropping by roughly 55% from its December 2024 top of over $4,100.

In addition, Ethereum’s internal governance has faced growing criticism. Delays in critical upgrades and disagreements among core developers have raised concerns about the network’s ability to scale and maintain user confidence.

A notable example is the controversy surrounding implementing the Ethereum Virtual Machine Object Format (EOF).

During the February 2025 All Core Developers Execution Call, the Geth team, responsible for Ethereum’s most widely used client software, expressed strong opposition to including EOF in the upcoming Fusaka upgrade. They argued that EOF’s complexity could introduce unforeseen risks, leading to a lack of consensus among developers and delaying its deployment.

Also, the Pectra upgrade, initially scheduled for March 2025, was delayed due to technical challenges encountered during testing on the Holesky testnet. The Ethereum Foundation emphasized the need for thorough testing to ensure network stability, reflecting the complexities of coordinating such significant protocol changes.