The cryptocurrency landscape continues to evolve, with two prominent altcoins, XRP and Dogecoin, facing significant long-term challenges despite their storied pasts. Both tokens, launched in 2013, have generated substantial wealth for early investors; for instance, a $10,000 investment in XRP’s initial trading phase has reportedly grown to a staggering $3.57 million, while the same amount in Dogecoin could approximately yield $7 million today. However, this impressive growth required investors to endure multiple downturns over the years, including three crypto winters and a major recession in the U.S.
Despite their historical success, both XRP and Dogecoin have seen a decline in value over the past year. XRP has dropped around 10%, while Dogecoin has plummeted by nearly 60%. Exploring the reasons behind these downturns and assessing the potential for future gains reveals a complex picture.
XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger, was developed by Ripple Labs, a fintech company. Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, which can be mined or staked, XRP’s entire supply of 100 billion tokens was pre-mined prior to its launch. Its primary utility lies in serving as a bridge currency to facilitate faster and more cost-effective financial transactions on Ripple’s platform. Users converting between two fiat currencies can do so via XRP in a process that promises speed and security compared to traditional interbank systems like SWIFT.
On the other hand, Dogecoin originated as a lighthearted offshoot of Litecoin, which itself was derived from Bitcoin’s blockchain. Characterized by its unlimited supply, Dogecoin currently circulates around 168 billion tokens. This design is intended to encourage usage rather than hoarding, but it also lacks the scarcity that drives value in other cryptocurrencies.
Neither XRP nor Dogecoin natively supports smart contracts essential for decentralized applications, though both platforms are making strides in integrating limited support for Ethereum-compatible applications.
In 2020, XRP faced a significant challenge when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Ripple with selling XRP as an unregistered security, prompting widespread delisting from major exchanges and loss of key financial partnerships. However, a court ruling last August saw Ripple fined less than expected, and importantly, confirmed that XRP was not classified as an unlicensed security in retail transactions. This verdict led to a resurgence in interest for XRP, which saw its listing reinstated on major exchanges and was included in applications for spot price exchange-traded funds (ETFs) rolled out in late 2025.
Despite these improvements, XRP’s future may be threatened by competition from stablecoins, including Ripple’s own Ripple USD, which offer more reliable pegging to the U.S. dollar as bridge currencies. Additionally, XRP lacks the intrinsic value derived from scarcity, which helps sustain assets like Bitcoin.
Conversely, Dogecoin initially benefited from backing by high-profile advocates such as Elon Musk and Mark Cuban. Musk’s tweets often moved the market, while companies like Tesla began accepting Dogecoin for payments. Recently, CleanCore Solutions announced plans to acquire 5% of Dogecoin’s total circulating supply as part of its new “Dogecoin Treasury,” and the approval of Dogecoin’s first spot price ETFs also opens avenues for retail investors. Despite this buzz, Dogecoin lacks compelling advantages over more established mined currencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin.
Looking to the future, it’s challenging to envision either XRP or Dogecoin replicating their past millionaire-making trajectories in the next decade. Long-term optimism appears more warranted for XRP, primarily due to its integration within the expanding Ripple ecosystem and potential evolution into a comprehensive financial institution. Meanwhile, Dogecoin’s reliance on speculative interest and social media hype raises concerns about its ability to sustain growth, indicating that it may struggle to clarify its value proposition in comparison to its competitors.
