As of December 8, 2025, the U.S. spot crypto ETF race is no longer a two-horse contest.
Bitcoin and Ethereum have dominated for nearly two years, but Ripple’s XRP officially joined the arena in November 2025 with the launch of the first spot XRP ETFs. The long-awaited regulatory clarity – achieved after the SEC-Ripple lawsuit ended in August 2025 with a $125 million settlement – finally unlocked the gates.
Yet despite the breakthrough, XRP remains a distant third in every major metric.
Bitcoin continues to reign supreme with roughly $120 billion in spot ETF assets under management, even after a brutal 29% drawdown from its October peak when AUM briefly touched $169 billion. Institutional demand has stayed remarkably resilient, with net inflows for 2025 still exceeding $22 billion despite November’s $3.6 billion outflow wave during the price crash from $110K to around $91K.
Ethereum has solidified itself as the clear number two and the fastest-growing contender. Spot ETH ETFs now hold approximately $18 billion, fueled by $9.6 billion of inflows in Q3 alone – outpacing Bitcoin for that quarter. BlackRock’s ETHA fund by itself manages over $11 billion, and the combination of staking yields (3-6%) and Ethereum’s dominance in DeFi and real-world asset tokenization keeps money rotating in.
XRP, by contrast, is just getting started. The first spot XRP ETF – Canary Capital’s XRPC – launched on November 13, 2025, and saw $58 million in day-one volume. Bitwise, Grayscale, and Franklin Templeton quickly followed suit, with several more (21Shares, WisdomTree, CoinShares) expected to go live before Christmas. Total spot XRP ETF AUM currently sits at an estimated $150 million, with roughly $100 million of net inflows since launch. That’s a respectable debut – actually stronger than Ethereum’s first-week numbers – but still a rounding error next to BTC and ETH.
In terms of average daily trading volume, Bitcoin leads with $2–3 billion across its dozen funds, Ethereum follows at around $1.9 billion, and XRP is scraping $50–100 million in early days.
Bottom line ranking as of today:
- Bitcoin (BTC) – undisputed heavyweight champion
- Ethereum (ETH) – the surging challenger closing the gap
- Ripple (XRP) – the new entrant with massive catch-up potential but miles to go
XRP has real tailwinds: eleven total spot filings in the pipeline, pent-up demand from years of regulatory limbo, and a unique cross-border payments narrative that no other major crypto can match. Some analysts believe sustained inflows and a friendly new SEC regime could push XRP toward $1–2 billion in ETF AUM by mid-2026 if the token reclaims $5 or higher.
For now, though, the scoreboard is clear: Bitcoin and Ethereum are the established giants, and XRP is the scrappy newcomer still lacing up its gloves. The fight has only just begun.