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XRP traded at $2.01 at the time of writing, rising 8.50% over the past seven days, though it remained down 7.36% over the last month and 16.93% year over year. Stellar’s XLM traded at $0.2193, posting a 2.54% weekly gain while falling 13.90% over the past month and nearly 51% over the past year.  Source: CoinCodex These contrasting performance trends frame the debate heading into 2026. Market Ranking and Valuation Highlight a Wide Gap Market positioning clearly separates the two assets. XRP ranks fourth among all cryptos, while Stellar holds the seventeenth position. XRP’s market capitalization stands at $121.84 billion, far exceeding Stellar’s $7.1 billion valuation. This gap reflects broader participation, deeper capital pools, and wider market relevance. Trading activity reinforces this difference. As of writing, XRP recorded a 24-hour trading volume of $6.15 billion, compared with Stellar’s $180.03 million. Higher turnover typically supports tighter spreads and smoother execution, especially during volatile sessions. XRP also commands a market dominance of roughly 4%, compared with Stellar’s far smaller footprint. Supply Dynamics and Inflation Trends Shape Outlook Looking at the bigger picture that shapes 2026 clearly, supply metrics reveal important structural differences. XRP had a circulating supply of 60.68 billion tokens from a maximum of 100 billion, with an annual inflation rate of 5.98%, which addded 3.42 billion XRP over the past year.  Stellar circulates 32.39 billion XLM from a capped supply of 50 billion, while posting a higher annual inflation rate of 6.96%, translating to 2.11 billion new tokens. These figures suggest different scarcity dynamics. XRP’s larger absolute issuance come with stronger demand and liquidity, while Stellar’s higher inflation rate weigh on long-term price performance.  How much does supply growth matter when adoption diverges? Historical Price Cycles and Adoption Metrics Both assets share similar origins yet deliver different outcomes over time.…

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Filed under: News - @ January 3, 2026 11:27 am