CNBC Crowns XRP Hottest Crypto Trade of 2026 in BTC and ETH: Why?

CNBC's call reflects excessive return demand as investors move away from BTC maturity and into higher beta opportunities like XRP.

Ripple's XRP token took center stage on American financial television this week, with CNBC labeling it the “hottest crypto business of the year,” ahead of both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in early 2026.

The call signals a shift in focus in the market as investors are hunting for a bigger percentage beyond the two biggest cryptocurrencies.

Why XRP is now beating Bitcoin and Ethereum

During the Jan. 6 episode of CNBC's Power Lunch, host Brian Sullivan put it bluntly:

“The hottest crypto business of the year isn't Bitcoin, it's XRP, not Ether.”

XRP is up more than 20% this year and “the big money behind this business” has seen it climb to the top three cryptocurrencies in market value.

CNBC's Mackenzie Sigallos notes that the trend began quietly in late 2025: “During the chaos of Q4, you really saw a lot of people piling into those XRP ETFs,” she said.

Investors see XRP as “a less crowded train than Bitcoin or Ether”, a bet that paid off in the first trading days of January.

That view lines up with recent data, which shows XRP rising from below $1.85 to above $2.40 within days, aided by steady flows into spot XRP ETFs and exchange-held balances.

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The Ripple token is currently trading at $2.25 after a 24-hour retracement of 5%, following a weekly surge of nearly 20%. XRP has gained roughly 7% in the past month, although it is 38% below its peak of $3.65 on CoinGecko.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is hovering below $92,000, down about 2% on the day and mostly flat over the past 30 days. Meanwhile, ETH is holding around $3,200, with modest weekly gains but weak long-term momentum.

Big change in Crypto markets

On the CNBC show, Sigallos grouped XRP's long-term payment focus with Solana (SOL), indicating that one of the altcoins is attracting renewed interest.

“Right now those are the two most popular altcoins,” she said, explaining that Bitcoin has become more established and has been relegated to investors looking elsewhere.

She also listed the various use cases that are driving interest: XRP for cross-border payments and Solana for its speed and low cost of promoting assets such as money market funds.

“The GENIUS Act was passed into law last year, so we have seen many stable coin issuers,” Sigalos explained, adding that these issuers work in multiple blockchains. She identified cost as a critical factor;

“Solana is much more cost-effective than moving money around on the Ethereum blockchain, which is why you see people breaking away from the big two.”

On the same day as the distribution, Morgan Stanley was rumored to be offering to launch its own Bitcoin and Solana ETF. Additionally, Coinbase's December 2025 integration of the Solana decentralized exchange for its 100 million users was cited as a major step toward expanding the reach of that ecosystem.