CNBC Crowns XRP Hottest Crypto Trade of 2026 Over BTC and ETH: Here’s Why

CNBC’s call reflects an appetite for outsized returns, as investors rotate from BTC’s maturity toward higher-beta opportunities like XRP.

Ripple’s XRP token took center stage on U.S. financial television this week after CNBC labeled it the “hottest crypto trade of the year,” overtaking both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in early 2026 attention.

The call signals a clear shift in market focus, as investors hunt for larger percentage moves beyond the two largest cryptocurrencies.

Why XRP Is Beating Bitcoin and Ethereum Right Now

During CNBC’s Power Lunch segment, which aired on January 6, host Brian Sullivan set the tone plainly:

“The hottest crypto trade of the year is not Bitcoin, it is not Ether, it is XRP.”

He noted that XRP is already up more than 20% this year and has climbed into the top three cryptocurrencies by market value, with “big money behind this trade.”

CNBC reporter Mackenzie Sigalos explained that the trend started quietly in late 2025. “During the doldrums of Q4, you actually saw a lot of people piling into those XRP ETFs,” she said, adding that this behavior contrasted with Bitcoin and ETH ETFs, where flows tend to follow price more closely.

Investors, she noted, viewed XRP as “a less crowded train than Bitcoin or Ether,” a bet that paid off in the first trading days of January.

That view lines up with recent data, which shows XRP rising from under $1.85 to just over $2.40 within days, supported by steady inflows into spot XRP ETFs and a drop in exchange-held balances.

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The Ripple token is currently trading around $2.25 after a 24-hour pullback of about 5%, following a strong weekly climb of nearly 20%. Over the past month, XRP has gained roughly 7%, although it remains about 38% below its all-time high of $3.65 per CoinGecko.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is hovering just under $92,000, down about 2% on the day and largely flat over the last 30 days. On its part, ETH is holding near $3,200, with modest weekly gains but weaker long-term momentum.

Bigger Shift in Crypto Markets

In the CNBC show, Sigalos also pointed to XRP’s long-standing payments focus while grouping it with Solana (SOL) as one of the altcoins drawing renewed interest.

“Those are the two very popular altcoins right now,” she said, explaining the appeal as being down to investors looking elsewhere for larger percentage gains since Bitcoin has become more established.

She also detailed distinct use cases driving the interest: XRP for cross-border payments and Solana for its speed and low cost in tokenizing assets like money market funds.

“The GENIUS Act was passed into law last year, so we saw a lot more stablecoin issuers,” Sigalos noted, adding that these issuers operate across multiple blockchains. She identified cost as a critical factor, saying,

“Solana is a lot more cost-effective than moving money over the Ethereum blockchain at different points, which is why you’re seeing people diversify away from the big two.”

On the same day as the broadcast, news broke that Morgan Stanley had filed to launch its own Bitcoin and Solana ETFs. Furthermore, Coinbase’s December 2025 integration of Solana decentralized exchange trading for its 100 million users was cited as a major step in expanding access to that ecosystem.