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XRP trades near $3.30 in 2025 after a 453% rise since last year September, backed by Ripple’s banking adoption.
TRON gained 120%, powering $80B in stablecoin transfers and $20B in DeFi.
XRP offers stability through payments, while TRON delivers growth through on-chain utility, giving investors two distinct opportunities.
With the crypto market developing rapidly in recent times, two established crypto assets, Ripple (XRP) and TRON (TRX), have attracted investors. Each of the two tokens has performed well this year and boasts good communities and use cases.
An analysis of their price performance and long-term usefulness elaborates about which one of the two is the superior investment in 2025, all with a neutral viewpoint based on facts.
XRP and TRON have been some of the better-performing large-cap coins in 2025. Over the year to date, the price of XRP has increased approximately 37%, and TRX has risen roughly 33%, which shows a revival of interest in the two assets. Ripple's XRP recently skyrocketed to multi-year highs following a favorable legal settlement with the US SEC, trading at approximately $3.50 in August 2025.
This movement has soared XRP's market capitalization to around $172 billion, ranking it as the third-largest cryptocurrency in terms of value (only after Bitcoin and Ethereum). This growth is a solid recovery of XRP, which enjoyed the relief of regulatory uncertainty and enhanced investor confidence.
TRX has also shown remarkable growth. At press time, TRX was trading more than 120% higher than it was a year ago, at a price near $0.33. The token even hit a 12-month high of approximately $0.44 during the recent bull cycle.
TRON's market capitalization is roughly $32 billion, less than that of XRP, but this smaller size enabled greater percentage returns within the last year. Experts cite that if the larger crypto market is still bullish, TRX might be near the $1 level by the end of 2025 (or a threefold increase over the current rates).
Also Read: XRP Price Prediction: Will Ripple Break $3 and Reach $5 or Drop to $2.50?
In addition to price action, utility and adoption are central to the long-term value of these projects. The first application of XRP involves international payments at low cost and speed. Ripple Labs created XRP and its RippleNet network to bring cross-border money transfers into the modern era, with transactions frequently being settled in a matter of seconds, a drastic contrast to older systems such as SWIFT.
Notably, other mainstream institutions have shown interest in XRP's technology; in 2025, the global banking network SWIFT started testing the use of the XRP Ledger to expedite cross-border payments. Other collaborations include those with banks and fintech, such as the introduction of bank-supported stablecoins on the XRP Ledger.
This increasing use in the financial world highlights the prominence of XRP as a currency of exchange for international payments. After a recent legal win that has given this token regulatory clarity, XRP is set to be a comparatively stable large-cap crypto with an apparent utility of enabling effective money transfers across international borders.
On the other hand, TRON was developed as a decentralized blockchain smart contract and application infrastructure. Justin Sun introduced TRON in 2017, and it functions as a decentralized network that facilitates the sharing of digital content and numerous decentralized applications (dApps). Over the last few years, TRON has become a major center of stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Also Read: XRP Ledger Heats Up: Dune Analytics Integration Unlocks Explosive Growth Insights
Low costs and high throughput have made the network a favorite rail to transfer Tether (USDT) - more than $80 billion worth of USDT is on TRON, making it a stablecoin settlement layer. This has contributed to the DeFi ecosystem of TRON, which currently has approximately $20 billion in total value locked, making TRON one of the most popular platforms for crypto lending, trading, and other financial services.
Ongoing technical innovation also enhances TRON's value and attractiveness to users. Both have value in real-world applications: XRP in international payments, and TRON in powering stablecoins, dApps, and digital finance, which inherently makes them stronger than speculation.
