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

CNBC’s call reflects a desire for external returns, as investors pivot from maturing BTC to high-beta opportunities like XRP.

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

This call shows a clear change in the focus of the market, as investors hunt for large percentages that exceed the two major cryptocurrencies.

Why XRP Is Beating Bitcoin and Ethereum Right Now

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

“The hottest crypto trade of the year isn’t Bitcoin, it isn’t Ether, it’s XRP.”

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

CNBC reporter Mackenzie Sigalos explained that the trend began quietly in late 2025. “During the Doldrums of Q4, you actually saw a lot of people piling into those XRP ETFs,” he said, adding that this behavior is the opposite of Bitcoin and ETH ETFs, where flows tend to follow price very closely.

Investors, he noted, view XRP as “a much more crowded train than Bitcoin or Ether,” a bet that paid off in the early trading days of January.

That view is consistent with recent data, which shows XRP rising from below $1.85 to just above $2.40 intraday, supported by steady inflows into XRP ETFs and declining exchange-held balances.

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

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is trading just below $92,000, down nearly 2% on the day and the lowest in the past 30 days. On the other hand, ETH is holding near $3,200, with small weekly gains but weak long-term momentum.

A Big Shift in Crypto Markets

On the CNBC show, Sigalos also pointed to a focus on XRP’s long-term returns while including Solana (SOL) as one of the altcoins drawing renewed interest.

“Those are two of the most popular altcoins right now,” he said, explaining the appeal as aimed at investors looking for an alternative source of income as Bitcoin has become more established.

He also detailed the unique use cases that are generating interest: XRP for cross-border payments and Solana for its speed and low cost of tokenizing assets such as money market funds.

“The GENIUS Act was passed into law last year, so we’ve seen a lot of stablecoin issuers,” Sigalos noted, adding that these issuers work across multiple blockchains. He pointed to cost as the most important factor, saying,

“Solana is more expensive than moving money through the Ethereum blockchain to different places, that’s why you see people breaking away from the big two.”

On the same day as the broadcast, news broke that Morgan Stanley had applied to launch Bitcoin and Solana ETFs. In addition, Coinbase’s December 2025 integration of the Solana decentralized exchange for its 100 million users was marked as a major step in expanding access to that area.