Popular altcoin price prediction: ETH is experiencing a wave of large institutional buying, with a potential increase of over XRP in the next 12 months.

Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) have been the top-performing large-cap encryption assets in the past 30 days, rising 52% and 45% respectively. However, market analysts believe that if the trend of large institutional accumulation continues, the increase of ETH will surpass that of XRP in the next 6 to 12 months.

Compared to Ethereum, XRP has performed excellently over the past 12 months. Since July 2024, XRP has risen by 552%, while ETH has only increased by 6.34%, rising from $3,432 to $3,630. Year-to-date (YTD) performance has also favored XRP, with the token price increasing from $2.08 to $3.10 (a rise of 49%), while ETH only increased by 9.5% during the same period.

(Source: Trading View)

One of the main factors driving the pump in XRP prices is the coin hoarding behavior of whales. According to data from Santiment, there are currently 2,743 wallets holding over 1 million XRP, totaling 47.32 billion XRP, which accounts for 4.4% of the circulating supply. In just the first half of July, the reduction in XRP supply led to a 50% increase in its price.

(Source: Santiment)

The trading price of XRP is also close to its historical high of $3.84. At the beginning of this month, the price touched $3.65 and is currently hovering around $3.13, about 82% of its peak. This trend indicates that large holders are influencing the growth momentum of XRP.

At the same time, institutional investors are accumulating Ether at an unprecedented pace.

Bit Digital sold all of its held Bitcoin and purchased 100,000 ETH worth approximately $172 million, becoming one of the largest institutional holders of ETH.

BTCS Inc., BitMine, and SharpLink, among other companies, are also actively increasing their holdings of ETH, viewing it as a strategic asset.

Overall, these four companies now hold 652,929 ETH (worth over $2.37 billion), not to mention BlackRock's 2.14 million ETH, which indicates growing institutional interest in Ethereum.

(Source: Arkham)

In terms of price, ETH is currently trading at 74% of its $4,890 high, while XRP is closer to its all-time high. This indicates that XRP benefits from whale purchases in the short term, while ETH benefits from institutional capital inflow, having a long-term growth foundation.

In summary, XRP has outperformed ETH from the beginning of the year until now, but in the next 6-12 months, if the trend of large institutions increasing their holdings continues, ETH may take the lead.