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Investors who bought stocks during the COVID-19 market crash in 2020 have generally experienced some big gains in the past two years. But there is no question some big-name stocks performed better than others since the pandemic bottom.
XRP's Big Run: As strong as the stock market has been since it bottomed on March 23, 2020, XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) has been much stronger.
Ripple facilitates open-source payments and XRP is the cryptocurrency that runs on the Ripple network. Why the popular Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) network is focused on decentralized finance, Ripple and XRP are more focused on cross-border business payments.
Several factors led to a surge in buying XRP in 2020 and especially in 2021. Younger Americans receiving three rounds of direct stimulus payments have poured a significant chunk of that cash into investments, including XRP. In addition, cryptocurrency investing became extremely trendy in 2021, and XRP was one of the most popular cryptos in the market.
At the beginning of 2020, XRP was trading at just $0.192 cents. By the beginning of March, the cryptocurrency had risen to $0.231 cents as news of the virus spreading in China prompted concerns about a U.S. pandemic. On March 13, 2020, XRP plummeted to its pandemic low of $0.115 cents as global stock markets tanked. Once the government stimulus payments started flowing, however, XRP regained its swagger.
By November 1, XRP was back up above $0.23 cents.
Related Link: If You Invested $1,000 In Dogecoin At Its COVID-19 Pandemic Low, Here's How Much You'd Have Now
XRP In 2021, 2022, Beyond: XRP ultimately hit a new multi-year high of $1.965 in April 2021, during the Reddit-driven meme stock trading frenzy but has since pulled back significantly. Today, XRP is trading back down at $0.42 cents.
Still, investors who bought XRP on the day it hit its pandemic low and held on have generated a huge return on their investment. In fact, $1,000 in XRP purchased on March 13, 2020, would be worth about $2,974 today.
Given the rise in XRP prices in the past two years coupled with the loss of stimulus payment support in 2022, some investors are understandably concerned about just how much further XRP prices could fall. XRP and other cryptos are prone to boom-to-bust drawdowns, and XRP prices are already down nearly 60% in the past year.