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In the world of digital assets investing, XRP and Solana (SOL) are the third and sixth largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization after bitcoin and ether.1 Market participants with existing exposure to bitcoin and ether can look to XRP and Solana to diversify their return sources and manage risk.
Traditional diversification principles apply to crypto investing, in which less correlated assets can cushion the portfolio from adverse price movements. The correlation matrix among the four assets highlights that XRP, in particular, has fairly low correlations to bitcoin, ether and SOL.
|
|
XRP |
SOL |
ETH |
BTC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
XRP |
1.0000 |
|
|
|
|
SOL |
0.5506 |
1.0000 |
|
|
|
ETH |
0.5665 |
0.6780 |
1.0000 |
|
|
BTC |
0.5525 |
0.7522 |
0.7620 |
1.0000 |
Source: Correlation based on daily logarithmic returns from CF Benchmarks Rate publications from Jan. 2, 2024 through September 12, 2025.
Risk and returns tend to be linear among the four coins, with higher returns accompanied by higher volatility. XRP and SOL generally offer higher potential returns but come with higher volatility compared to BTC and ETH. BTC appears to be the most stable option, while ETH strikes a balance between risk and return.
In particular:
-
XRP has the highest average daily return (0.52%) among the four cryptocurrencies. Correspondingly, it exhibits higher standard deviation (5.89%) than BTC, ETH and SOL.
-
SOL has the second highest standard deviation of daily returns (5.13%), suggesting it is one of the most volatile assets of the group. Its mean daily return (0.32%) is higher than ETH and BTC, but lower than XRP.
-
ETH has a moderate mean daily return (0.24%) and a lower standard deviation of daily returns (4.10%) compared to XRP and SOL, indicating a more slightly stable profile.
-
BTC has the lowest standard deviation of daily returns (2.91%), making it the least volatile asset in this comparison. Correspondingly, BTC (0.27%) has the lowest daily average returns among the four.
|
Cryptocurrency |
Average Daily Return |
Standard Deviation of Daily Returns (Volatility) |
Risk/Reward Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
|
XRP |
0.52% |
5.89% |
0.088 |
|
SOL |
0.32% |
5.14% |
0.062 |
|
ETH |
0.24% |
4.10% |
0.058 |
|
BTC |
0.27% |
2.91% |
0.092 |
Source: CME Group. Data from Jan. 2, 2024 – Sept. 12, 2025
For market participants with existing exposure to bitcoin and ether, these new futures offer an effective means to diversify returns and manage risk. To meet the market’s needs for additional coin exposures, CME Group launched large-sized futures and smaller-sized Micro futures on SOL and XRP in March and May 2025, respectively, to complement the existing Bitcoin futures and Ether futures product suite.
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