Altseason Pump: Can Ripple Altcoin XRP Replicate 350x Returns Same as 2018 in 2026?

• Altseason pump: can Ripple XRP replicate 350x returns?

• Analyst expects the same returns as from 2018 in 2026 for XRP.

• Can the price of XRP set new ATH prices this year.

Expectations for altseason continue to grow as Bitcoin and Ethereum prices continue to maintain promising prices above $78,000 and $2,300 respectively. By maintaining these prices, analyst believe a move towards high targets is likely, fueling expectations for altseason as well. Some analysts hope XRP can pull a pump as powerful as it printed in 2018. Can Ripple altcoin XRP replicated 350x returns same as 2018 in 2026?

Can Ripple Altcoin XRP Replicate 350x Returns

It is no secret that 8 years ago Ripple’s altcoin XRP and native token asset of the Ripple network was one of the most promising crypto assets during that time. To highlight, the price of XRP was rising steadily and bullishly, maintaining a rising total market cap running right alongside Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). During this time, the price of XRP was expected to rise and hit much higher ATH prices.

Unfortunately, the asset hit a snag when the SEC slapped the firm with a lawsuit, claiming that XRP was a security. Since then, the price of XRP tanked and many frustrated traders exited the company. Despite this, Ripple continued to build and fought hard, despite XRP’s stunted growth over the next bull cycle. This led to other assets gaining a huge lead on XRP, leaving XRP holders waiting longer for the price to rise.

Analyst Expects 2018 XRP Pump in 2026

Recently, XRP closed the case with the SEC, walking away triumphantly from the lawsuit. Soon after, the price of XRP pumped parabolically twice, but still failed to reclaim its previous ATH price, which experts believe will likely occur this year when the peak altseason phase begins. Thus, XRP enthusiasts have been heavily accumulating over the years, hoping for a significant rise in profits soon.

This is important to remember about XRP’s price.👇

In 2017–2018, XRP delivered nearly 350x returns.

Bitcoin returned about 14x.🔻

Ethereum returned about 100x.🔻

That means XRP’s price increase was roughly 24 times steeper than Bitcoin’s.📈

And this happened before Ripple… pic.twitter.com/Tg7wSgQWT0

— SMQKE (@SMQKEDQG) April 25, 2026

As we can see from the post above, the analyst goes on to highlight the crypto market surge between 2017 and 2018, where XRP pulled a 350x pump, ETH saw 100x returns, and Bitcoin in comparison only pulled a 14x pump. This means that XRP’s price increase was roughly 24 times steeper than Bitcoin’s, and this happened before Ripple completed any of its major institutional acquisitions. Just early network momentum.

Today, the picture is completely different. Since 2017, Ripple has completed strategic acquisitions totaling over $3 billion to build institutional grade infrastructure, including Metaco 2023, bank grade custody now used by G-SIBs, Standard Custody 2024, New York regulated trust services, Rail 2025, $200 million stablecoin powered payments, and much more. This creates a much stronger foundation for durable price appreciation in XRP. All this could lead to an even greater pump in 2026.