While most of the cryptocurrency market spent September 2018 slowly bleeding out in what many described as full-blown crypto winter, one altcoin staged a rally that left the entire space watching in disbelief. XRP, the native token of the Ripple network, surged more than 103% in just seven days, briefly flirting with Ethereum’s number-two spot by market capitalization and reigniting debates about the future of altcoins in a bear market.
TL;DR
- XRP gained over 103% in the week ending September 22, 2018, pushing its market cap above $22.7 billion
- Ethereum held the #2 spot at $24.5 billion but saw its lead narrow significantly as XRP charged upward
- Bitcoin traded at $6,721 on the same date, down over 65% from its December 2017 all-time high
- The rally was largely attributed to growing speculation around Ripple’s institutional partnerships and xRapid adoption
- Crypto fatigue sentiment was at an all-time high, with traders and commentators openly discussing burnout
A Rally That Defied the Bear
On September 22, 2018, XRP was trading at approximately $0.57, up a staggering 103% over the previous seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data. The token’s market capitalization had swelled to $22.7 billion, putting it within striking distance of Ethereum’s $24.5 billion. For context, Bitcoin was trading at $6,721, Ethereum at $240, and the total cryptocurrency market sat around $222 billion — a far cry from the $800+ billion peak just nine months earlier.
The rally stood in sharp contrast to nearly every other major cryptocurrency. Bitcoin Cash was down 1.97% over 24 hours. EOS had slipped 3.22%. Cardano shed 4.53%. Even Ethereum itself was down 2.72% on the day. Yet XRP kept climbing, driven by a wave of speculative buying that appeared to be fueled by institutional news rather than retail hype.
The xRapid Catalyst
Behind the surge was a growing narrative around Ripple’s xRapid product, which uses XRP for cross-border liquidity. Throughout September, multiple financial institutions were reported to be testing or piloting xRapid for international payments, creating genuine excitement about real-world utility for the token. Unlike many altcoins that relied on vague roadmap promises, Ripple could point to actual banking partnerships and working products.
The timing was particularly notable because the broader market was mired in what had been described as an extended “crypto fatigue” phase. A September 22 article in The Next Web captured the mood perfectly, with the author admitting that the prolonged bear market had given them a “mild distaste for the whole space.” Complaints about dead ICOs, fake partnerships, spam airdrops, and toxic crypto-Twitter communities were rampant. Against this backdrop of exhaustion and pessimism, XRP’s surge felt almost contrarian.
The Bigger Picture: Altcoins in Crisis
XRP’s rally aside, the altcoin landscape was looking increasingly grim by late September 2018. Poloniex, one of the older crypto exchanges, announced it was delisting eight underperforming altcoins: BitcoinDark, Bitmark, Einsteinium, Gridcoin, NeosCoin, PotCoin, VeriCoin, and BitcoinPlus. The delistings followed Circle’s Asset Framework guidelines, which the exchange’s parent company had introduced to establish quality standards for listed assets.
The message was clear: the days of listing every token with a whitepaper and a dream were over. Exchanges were beginning to take quality control seriously, and the long tail of obscure altcoins was getting trimmed. For every XRP that could point to banking partnerships and real adoption, there were dozens of projects with dead GitHub repositories and communities held together by nothing but hopium.
Market Context: A Bleeding Landscape
The top ten cryptocurrencies on September 22 painted a picture of a market still searching for a bottom. Bitcoin Cash sat at $487, down nearly 2% on the day. EOS was at $5.93. Stellar’s XLM had fallen to $0.23, Litecoin was at $60, and Cardano’s ADA traded at just $0.08. Tether, the stablecoin that would later become the backbone of crypto trading, held steady at $1.00 with a modest market cap of $2.8 billion.
Notably, the 24-hour trading volume for XRP exceeded $2.4 billion, suggesting that the rally was backed by significant market activity and not just low-liquidity manipulation. Whether the momentum was sustainable, however, remained an open question in a market where bearish sentiment dominated every conversation.
Why This Matters
XRP’s September 2018 rally serves as a reminder that even in the depths of a brutal bear market, individual assets can break away from the pack when backed by tangible institutional narratives. The episode also highlighted a fundamental shift underway in crypto: the market was beginning to separate projects with real-world adoption from those surviving on hype alone. As exchanges started delisting underperformers and institutional interest gravitated toward tokens with demonstrable utility, the great altcoin purge of 2018 was quietly underway. XRP’s surge was the exception that proved the rule — and a preview of the survival-of-the-fittest dynamic that would define the next phase of the cryptocurrency market.
Disclaimer: This article was written for BitcoinsNews.com as a historical retrospective. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
xrp at 22.7 billion market cap trying to flip eth at 24.5 billion. september 2018 was the closest it ever got
XRP almost flipping ETH at $24.5B vs $22.7B. that week was the peak of the flippening memes. never came that close again
XRP went from 28 cents to 57 cents in a week while every other coin bled. the market was so desperate for a narrative that a dead cat became the headline
ghost_pump_ and then it gave back 40 percent the next month. classic XRP. pump on rumors dump on reality
XRP at 0.57 from sub-0.30 in a week and people still called it organic. every XRP pump traces back to a Ripple announcement timed perfectly. been around long enough to spot the pattern
Kofia J. you nailed it. every XRP pump traces back to a Ripple announcement timed perfectly. xRapid in 2018, RLUSD in 2025, same formula different year
tomer the formula works because ripple controls the announcement calendar. one well timed headline and the 24h chart does the marketing for free
crypto fatigue at all time highs and xrp pumped 103% in a week anyway. the most contrarian rally of 2018
the xrapid speculation was the whole pump. retail bought the narrative that banks were actually going to use XRP for settlements. they never did at scale
xRapid was the catalyst narrative but if you look at actual volumes it was speculative buying riding the rumor. same playbook every cycle
still the same playbook in 2026. replace xrapid with whatever partnership narrative and retail falls for it every single cycle
dust_settle same playbook different year. xRapid was the narrative then, RLUSD is the narrative now, retail gets caught every time
most contrarian and most confusing. entire market was bleeding and xrp somehow went vertical. pure speculation on partnership news
Lena P. it wasnt even a partnership, just speculation about partnerships. the entire pump was built on rumors of banks that never confirmed anything
contrarian pump in a bear market is the biggest trap. everyone FOMOs thinking its the reversal then it dumps even harder. seen it happen dozens of times since 2018
100% rally in a week? XRP has been volatile since day one
XRPLover calling 100% in a week volatile is the understatement of the century. it gave back half those gains within a month
bear_trapper_ half the gains gone in a month is generous. XRP went from 57 cents back to sub-40 within weeks. classic dead cat that people called a reversal
XRP catching up to ETH? Not happening without proper DeFi
Kofia J. the partnership narrative was always vague too. xRapid this, xRapid that, and years later still no real institutional volume. classic retail trap
103% in a week on partnership rumors that never got confirmed. same playbook different year, xRapid was the 2018 version of RLUSD hype
ripple_ghost_ calling it xRapid hype is generous. there was zero adoption data, just conference stage announcements and twitter speculation
XRP at 57 cents during crypto winter while BTC was down 65%. the rally lasted exactly 7 days and gave back half within a month. classic dead cat
103% in a week on partnership rumors that literally never got confirmed. the XRP playbook hasnt changed in 8 years
was holding eth that september, watching xrp close a 2 billion dollar gap in days was surreal. everyone knew it was xrapid rumors, fomo just didnt care