Hard as it might be to picture for some in the crypto mainstream, there is a growing view in segments of the industry that XRP could actually flip Ethereum in market cap before the end of this year — and it is not just speculation from retail corners.

That is a prediction being put forward by John Deaton, founder of CryptoLawUS and longtime representative of XRP holders in the Ripple-SEC case, who believes the gap between the two is smaller than many want to admit.

The recent launch of the 2x XRP ETF (XXRP) seems to support that argument. Five million dollars in day-one trading volume does not make headlines on its own — especially not in a space obsessed with billion-dollar flows — but when placed in context, it starts to signal something more. 

That figure puts XXRP in the top 5% of ETF launches historically, and it is roughly 4x the volume than the 2x Solana ETF (SOLT) saw.

Deaton's take is not just based on trading data. He often mentions that over 75,000 XRP holders joined together to petition the court in the Ripple case. He thinks this is a unique way to measure real-world alignment and long-term conviction. 

While Ethereum's market cap is around $177.7 billion, XRP's is $106.5 billion. But when you look at the whole picture, it is a different story. XRP's FDV is actually higher at $184.15 billion, slightly above Ethereum's $178.95 billion. At least on paper, these numbers are starting to challenge assumptions.

Ethereum still has the upper hand when it comes to developer activity, smart contract adoption and institutional trust. But XRP is not trying to be like Ethereum. It is taking a different path, focusing on payments, compliance and growing accessibility through products like XXRP.