XRP Worst Year Becomes Best Year. Here’s What This Expert Says

Pseudonymous crypto commentator Digital Asset Investor is convinced that something big is coming for XRP. In a recent video, he pointed to a pattern in Bitcoin’s historical price data that he believes is strongly relevant to XRP and the broader crypto market in 2026.

The Numbers Behind the Pattern

Crypto is currently the worst-performing major asset class of 2026. Silver is up 107%, gold up 60%, the Nasdaq up 38%, and the Russell 2000 up 31%. Bitcoin, meanwhile, is down 34%, and Ethereum is down 47%.

That sounds grim. But Digital Asset Investor pulled up Bitcoin’s three worst historical years and what followed each one. In 2014, Bitcoin fell 58%. The next year it rose 35%. In 2018, it fell 73%. The next year it rose 92%. In 2022, it fell 64%. The next year it rose 155%.

“Are you seeing the pattern here?” he asked. “I don’t think I have to explain that to you.” The implication is that the worse a down year is, the stronger the recovery that follows. If 2026 continues as the worst-performing year for crypto, history suggests 2027 could be exceptional.

XRP’s Current Technical Position

One technical signal supports this outlook. XRP’s Relative Strength Index currently sits at neutral, while nearly every other major asset on the board is approaching or in overbought territory. Digital Asset Investor made his view on XRP’s long-term trajectory clear, stating that “$100 XRP is inevitable.”

His confidence partly rests on XRP’s deflationary mechanics. Over the past 206 days, 95,506 XRP have been permanently burned, averaging 463 XRP per day. As transaction volumes grow and XRP’s price rises, that burn rate accelerates.

He noted that higher prices are not speculative excess but a functional requirement for the network to scale.

A Bear Market With an Expiration Date

Hugo Philion of Flare Networks called current conditions “a really nasty bear market” but expects it “to finish up towards the end of the year, early next year.” Once that period ends, he said, “it’s game on for expansion.”

Philion also cited a specific XRP milestone from Centura: $50 million in stablecoin borrowing, requiring approximately $90 million worth of XRP as collateral. The cycle data, the RSI position, and the supply burn all point in the same direction. XRP’s worst year in recent memory may be setting up its best, and Digital Asset Investor believes the asset will hit $100.