As the first decentralized digital currency, Bitcoin (BTC) has attracted significant attention since its inception in 2009, often referred to as 'digital gold', and serves functions such as value storage and medium of exchange. XRP, on the other hand, was launched by Ripple Labs in 2012, primarily serving financial institutions and aiming to achieve efficient cross-border payments.

The two differ greatly on a technical level. BTC relies on blockchain and a proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism, where miners compete to solve complex mathematical problems to verify transactions. While this ensures security, it consumes a massive amount of energy and has a slower transaction speed, with an average confirmation time of about 10 minutes, and the first layer network has a processing capacity of only about 7 transactions per second (TPS). XRP uses a consensus protocol that does not require mining, allowing transactions to be completed in 3 to 5 seconds, with a processing capacity of about 1500 TPS and very low energy consumption.

In terms of market performance, as of May 12, 2025, 1 BTC can be exchanged for 40,350 XRP, and the market capitalization of BTC far exceeds that of XRP. However, XRP has been adopted by over 300 financial institutions due to its advantages in the cross-border payment sector.