Cardano (ADA) and XRP (XRP): a comparison
Cardano and XRP set side by side: how the quotes moved, how the protocols are built and what tasks each one was made for.
Specifications of ADA and XRP
| Cardano (ADA) | XRP (XRP) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.179252 | $1.10 |
| Ticker | ADA | XRP |
| Type | coin of its own network | coin of its own network |
| Launched | 2017 | 2012 |
| Built by | Charles Hoskinson | Ripple Labs |
| Consensus | Proof of Stake (Ouroboros) | XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol |
| Block | ~20 sec | ~4 sec |
| Supply cap | 45 B ADA | 100 B XRP |
| Privacy | transfers are public | transfers are public |
| In circulation | 37.58 B ADA | 63.52 B XRP |
| Market cap | $6.74 B | $69.76 B |
| Rank by cap | #18 | #6 |
Source: CoinGecko, Nov 10, 2026 12:57. How these numbers are counted
Price movement: ADA and XRP
The start of the period is taken as 100 for both prices: the chart shows the difference in movement, not the quotes themselves.
| Period | ADA | XRP |
|---|---|---|
| 7 days | −6.23% | −11.98% |
| 30 days | −29.02% | −21.56% |
| 90 days | −5.46% | +7.57% |
The link between their daily moves over the quarter is 0.82 (they travel together).
The tasks ADA and XRP were made for
- Contracts and applicationsCardano
- Transfers and paymentsXRP
How Cardano and XRP are built
How Cardano works
The consensus is called Ouroboros, a block appears roughly every 20 seconds, and accounting follows an extended UTXO model. ADA is delegated to stake pools, and the coins are not locked while it is. The supply cap is 45 billion ADA.
What Cardano is for
ADA pays fees, is staked to protect the network and is used in Cardano DeFi and NFT applications.
How XRP works
There is no mining here — validators agree on the order of transactions through a consensus protocol, and a new version of the ledger is closed every 3 to 5 seconds. All 100 billion XRP were issued at once, at the start. An account must always hold a small base reserve in XRP: without it there is simply no account in the ledger.
What XRP is for
XRP is put to work for cross-border settlement, as an intermediate (bridge) currency between fiat currencies and for quickly moving funds between exchanges.