[Digital Today reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] XRP has rebounded strongly over the past week, rising 43 percent, but it still shows a wide gap in a long-term performance comparison with bitcoin, blockchain media outlet Decrypt reported on Aug. 26 (local time).

XRP surged from below $1 to $1.70 before pulling back to around $1.43, but a long-term downtrend continues on an XRP/BTC basis.

In the short term, XRP's rebound was large. XRP started last week at around $0.978 and climbed to $1.70, rising more than 72 percent. After a pullback, it still held a gain of about 43 percent over seven days. Over the same period, bitcoin also rose about 22 percent, from $62,000 to $81,000.

The market debate focused on relative returns rather than absolute prices. Adam Livingston (아담 리빙스턴), a commentator with a pro-bitcoin stance, pointed out that XRP was still around $1.43, below the $3.02 recorded on Jan. 6, 2018. Bitcoin, by contrast, rose from about $17,000 that day to about $78,401 now, up 361 percent over the same period.

In a post on X, Livingston argued that "everything eventually goes to zero against bitcoin." He said the XRP/BTC pair has fallen 88.2 percent, stressing that despite the recent rebound, XRP remains clearly weaker versus bitcoin.

The comparison fed into an opportunity-cost debate in the crypto market. X user Alexander Mason Alden (알렉산더 메이슨 올든) said XRP could underperform bitcoin even if it does not actually go to zero. He said that as the period lengthens in which bitcoin compounds higher faster, the opportunity cost of holding other assets could increase.

Criticism also intensified. Bitcoin commentator micro2macro (마이크로2매크로) called it a scam, questioning the link between XRP and Ripple's business model. The market view has not tilted only one way, though.

Davinci Jeremy (다빈치 제레미), known as a long-time bitcoin commentator and XRP critic, has previously mentioned the possibility of XRP rising in price. He forecast that when XRP was trading around $3.13 in January 2025, it could go to $20 to $24 in this cycle. Jeremy, however, distinguished XRP as a short-term trading opportunity and as a long-term investment target. While criticising XRP's links to banking and financial systems, he maintained that it is less attractive as a long-term holding asset.

Ultimately, the latest surge has again highlighted XRP's short-term volatility, but assessments of long-term investment performance are diverging in comparisons with bitcoin. It has been confirmed that XRP can post large gains in a short period, but it was also shown that when set alongside bitcoin, the perceived return can become much smaller.