What if I had invested in XRP
Every lump sum scenario for XRP, start year by start year, using real prices and each month's exchange rate.
XRP, a cryptocurrency, grew 5.1-fold in dollar terms between November 2017 and November 2026, an average of +19.9% a year. At $1.29, the price is 57.6% below the $3.04 record set in January 2025. A lump sum would have paid off for 78% of the 108 possible purchase months since November 2017; the rest are still underwater.
Data: Yahoo Finance monthly closing prices, up to date as of (latest update November 5, 2026) MethodAuthor: Yann Avondo
If I had invested $1,000 as a lump sum in XRP in January 2018, today I would have $560
Over the same period
Worst moment: −92.4% between December 2017 and March 2020. To get this result, you had to hold on without selling.
XRP at a glance
XRP is the cryptocurrency associated with Ripple, designed for cross-border payments between institutions. Its price long hinged on the lawsuit between Ripple and the US securities regulator.
The ride was anything but smooth: between December 2017 and March 2020, XRP lost 92.4% of its value in dollar terms, and it took until January 2025 to regain that peak, 7 years and 1 month later. Volatility is very high: the best calendar year, 2021, shows +278.1%, the worst, 2018, −84.7%; 4 of 8 years ended in the green. Over the same period, the MSCI World (price index) returned +10.0% a year in dollar terms: XRP left it far behind.
$1,000 invested in XRP, by start year
Bought in January, valued at the latest price. Click a year for the full story.
| Start | Worth today | Multiple | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $619 | ×0.62 | −22.1% | |
| $2,094 | ×2.09 | +28.8% | |
| $3,788 | ×3.79 | +40.5% | |
| $1,549 | ×1.55 | +9.3% | |
| $5,857 | ×5.86 | +34.8% | |
| $6,675 | ×6.68 | +31.6% | |
| $3,651 | ×3.65 | +17.8% | |
| $560 | ×0.56 | −6.3% |
Lump sum or DCA in XRP?
Since January 2018, investing in XRP all at once (lump sum) multiplied the stake by ×0.56, −6.3% a year. Investing every month (DCA) multiplied the total contributions by ×2.58, an annual return (IRR) of +20.4%.
Here DCA did better: spreading the purchases avoided putting all the money in at the wrong time.
Frequently asked questions
What if I had invested $1,000 in XRP in 2020?
Invested in January 2020, $1,000 would be worth about $6,675 today, +31.6% a year on average.
What was the best year to invest in XRP?
Among the start years covered, 2020 gave the best result: $1,000 would have become $6,675. The weakest was 2018, worth $560 today. This ranking is only known with hindsight.
Are dividends included?
By default, the calculation follows the market price only. The "Reinvest dividends" option uses the adjusted price, which includes dividends paid and stock splits: the closest measure of what an investor actually earned.
Are exchange rates taken into account?
Yes. XRP trades in its own currency; every purchase and valuation is converted at that month's exchange rate. A US asset can gain in dollars and less in euros if the dollar weakened.
Are fees and taxes included?
No: results are before brokerage fees, fund fees and taxes. Your net result depends on the account you invest through.
Compare with
Before you have regrets
What this calculation does not tell you.
Hindsight bias
Picking Nvidia or Bitcoin today means picking known winners. Back then, nothing set them apart from hundreds of assets that went nowhere or vanished.
Holding on was the real test
The result assumes you never sold, including through the drawdowns shown above. Very few investors actually do.
The broad market, no bet required
The MSCI World never makes headlines, but it does not require guessing the winner. It is the fairest yardstick for any pick.
Method: past performance, computed from split-adjusted monthly closing prices (intra-month lows are smoothed out). Converted at each month’s exchange rate; no fees, no taxes. The MSCI World benchmark is the price index, excluding dividends. Sources: Yahoo Finance (prices, exchange rates, US Treasury bills), Eurostat (inflation), published regulated rates (Livret A). Not investment advice. NokxiHub.