XRP Outpaces Bitcoin With 490% Active Address Growth

A recent report from Glassnode has revealed a significant shift in retail investor preferences, with XRP emerging as the favored cryptocurrency over Bitcoin during the current market cycle. This trend highlights the differing growth paths of these two assets and the interplay between investor behavior and market dynamics. The report indicates that XRP has seen a 490% increase in active addresses since the 2022 cycle, while Bitcoin has experienced only a 10% growth in the same period. This surge in activity suggests higher speculative interest among XRP retail investors, who are drawn to XRP for short-term gains. In contrast, Bitcoin's movements have been primarily driven by institutional investors, reflecting a more steady growth pattern.

The Glassnode newsletter also noted that XRP’s realized market capitalization has nearly doubled, rising from $30 billion to $64 billion between December 2024 and early 2025. Over half of this capital growth occurred in the last six months, indicating a significant wave of participation by XRP retail investors. The data shows that the number of XRP addresses younger than six months has increased to 62.8% from 23% in a short period. This rapid growth, however, comes with a word of caution from Glassnode, which warns that this rapid expansion could make XRP’s market structure more fragile and prone to downsides. The Realized Loss/Profit Ratio has been dropping steadily, meaning that investors are facing losses larger than their profits. This situation could lead to some surprising developments in the near future.

Given this context, the next quarter of 2025 is expected to be pivotal for XRP. After the U.S. tax filing day, retail investors expecting positive XRP news in the short term may face disappointment. XRP's latest price performance has been volatile, with the cryptocurrency consolidating around $2. On April 4, 2025, XRP started trading at $2.016 and went on an uptrend due to oversold conditions on the RSI and a golden cross on the MACD. The price reached $2.0637 but faced strict resistance at $2.08. A death cross validated a price decline, leading to a dramatic drop to $1.964 at 12:50 UTC. Rapid action followed on the MACD, with RSI reading oversold conditions in the market. As the bulls took over, XRP climbed confidently, testing the $2.08 resistance at 19:10. However, the RSI was overbought at that point, leading to a correction and range-bound behavior, finding support at $2.037. XRP tested the resistance a few more times before breaking the $2.08 resistance, supported by a golden cross at 7:10. Since then, XRP has slumped down, abandoning the $2.037 support.

XRP's recovery attempt has been sabotaged by the $2.08 resistance. While the cryptocurrency was off to a good start to recover from the slump, it has failed to generate enough bullish force to break past $2.08. It was able to shatter resistance today but soon slumped. For now, the RSI depicts oversold levels. Given that, the EMAs are bound to converge soon, and we may see a golden cross. If the golden cross is a wide one, XRP will have enough fodder to get back to testing the $2.08 levels in the second half of the day. If not, XRP may slump a bit more before attempting recovery. According to the analyst's forecast, XRP price to hit $5.