Bitcoin vs 
XRP
Scarce money against payment plumbing. Bitcoin is designed to be held — fixed supply, slow, conservative, no company behind it; XRP is designed to move — fast, cheap settlement with Ripple, a real corporation, driving institutional adoption and carrying the regulatory history that comes with one. They compete for headlines, not for the same job.
12 months, both starting at 100 (AUD)
BTC → 66 · XRP → 46| Measure | BTC | XRP |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | A$2227.4B | A$123.9B |
| Rank | #1 | #5 |
| Price | A$110,943 | A$1.98 |
| 90-day change (AUD) | +23.3% | +19.5% |
| 12-month change (AUD) | −34.3% | −54.4% |
| From all-time high | −41.8% | −64.6% |
| Supply model | Capped: 21.0M max | Capped: 100.00B max |
| AU exchanges we verify it on | 5 | 5 |
About Bitcoin
Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency, launched in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto: a peer-to-peer digital money with a fixed supply of 21 million coins, secured by proof-of-work mining. It remains the largest crypto asset by value and the reference point the rest of the market trades against.
About XRP
XRP is the native asset of the XRP Ledger, a blockchain designed for fast, low-cost payments and settlement, created by the founders of Ripple in 2012. Transactions settle in seconds without mining, and the asset is aimed largely at cross-border payment use.
FAQ
Which is bigger, Bitcoin or XRP?
By market value today: Bitcoin (A$2227.4B vs A$123.9B). Size measures money invested, not quality — but it does measure liquidity, which affects how easily you can buy and sell.
Which performed better this year?
Over the past 12 months in AUD terms: BTC −34.3%, XRP −54.4% — the chart above shows the whole path, which matters more than the endpoints. Past performance is no indicator of future results, in either direction.
Can I buy both in Australia?
Yes — both are listed on AUSTRAC-registered exchanges we verify. BTC appears on 5 of our reviewed platforms and XRP on 5. Compare costs first on the fee calculator, and remember every crypto-to-crypto swap between them is a CGT event.
Should I hold BTC or XRP?
That's a personal decision we don't make for you — this page exists to make the structural differences clear so the choice is yours. What we'd say to anyone: understand what job each coin is designed for, size positions like the risk is real, and check the honest failure statistics before going further down the market-cap list.
Data from our market records (powered by CoinGecko), refreshed with the daily rebuild. General information only, not financial advice — we compare structure and history, we don't pick winners.