Bitcoin slips 4% this week; Ether hits two-month high

Bitcoin fell nearly 4% over the past week and is down about 27% since the start of the year. Ether reached its strongest closing level in almost two months but remains down roughly 35% year-to-date. XRP is included in broader comparisons alongside the two larger tokens.

Bitcoin, first transferred in early 2009 as the original decentralized digital currency, closed the week lower by nearly 4%. The token sits about 49% below its October 2025 record closing price and has lost roughly 27% of its value so far in 2026. On January 10, 2024, regulators approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds from issuers including Grayscale, iShares, Fidelity and ARK 21Shares, giving investors a way to gain exposure without holding the token directly.

Ether, the native asset of the Ethereum network launched in July 2015, posted its best weekly close in nearly two months. Ether is about 60% below its August 2025 record closing price and down roughly 35% year-to-date. Spot Ether ETFs began trading on July 23, 2024, with products from issuers such as Grayscale, Franklin, Bitwise, iShares and Fidelity.

XRP, issued by Ripple and first released in 2012, is part of the comparison because it was one of the larger cryptocurrencies when the series began. Indexes that chart Bitcoin, Ether and XRP together often use a logarithmic y-axis to show percentage changes over time rather than absolute price differences, allowing longer-term comparisons across assets with different price histories.

Weekly returns highlight continued volatility across crypto markets. Tracking charts that compare returns from late 2017 to the present show periods when each token led performance, with Bitcoin holding the top position in recent data.