Bitcoin Tops $80,000; Ether Flat Near $2,300, XRP Trails
Bitcoin stayed above $80,000 this week, its highest levels since late January. Ether held near $2,300 for a third week; XRP continued to lag its larger peers.
Bitcoin remained above $80,000 across the reporting week, reaching its highest levels since late January. Ether traded near $2,300 with little change for a third consecutive week, while XRP underperformed the two larger tokens.
Bitcoin closed consistently above $80,000 during the period and recorded its highest close since late January. The coin is about 8% lower year-to-date and roughly 35% below its record closing high from October 2025.
On Jan. 10, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, allowing issuers to offer products that hold bitcoin directly. Issuers that launched spot bitcoin funds include Grayscale (GBTC), iShares (IBIT), Fidelity (FBTC), ARK 21Shares (ARKB), Bitwise (BITB) and CoinShares Valkyrie (BRRR).
Ether, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, traded around $2,300 and showed little movement for the third week in a row. ETH is down about 23% year-to-date and sits roughly 53% below its record closing price from August 2025. Spot ether ETFs began trading on July 23, 2024, from issuers including Grayscale (ETHE), Franklin (EZET), Bitwise (ETHW), iShares (ETHA) and Fidelity (FETH).
XRP, introduced in 2012 and associated with Ripple’s payments technology, trailed bitcoin and ether in recent price performance. When this tracking series began, XRP was one of the larger cryptocurrencies by market share; it has since fallen behind the two largest tokens in price momentum and market gains.
An index that charts bitcoin, ether and XRP together uses a logarithmic scale to compare percentage changes since Nov. 9, 2017, rather than absolute price moves. At the time of writing, bitcoin leads the three on that measure.
Bitcoin was first transacted in early 2009 as the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Ether launched in July 2015 as the token that powers the Ethereum platform. Cryptocurrencies are digital assets that use cryptography to secure transactions, control the creation of units and verify transfers.
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