XDC Silently Outpaces Bitcoin and Ethereum Over the Last 12 Months

In a year where Bitcoin and Ethereum dominated headlines with institutional inflows and regulatory milestones, a quieter player has managed to outperform both by a wide margin: XDC Network’s native token, ￰0￱ Numbers Don’t Lie Over the past 12 months: XDC surged by roughly 206% , climbing from under $0.03 to nearly $0.08, as various RWA worth billions came on XDC, accelerating the ecosystem’s ￰1￱ gained around 109% , doubling in value as spot ETFs and macro trends renewed institutional ￰2￱ advanced approximately 93% , buoyed by ETF approvals and steady adoption across DeFi and ￰3￱ performance positions XDC as one of the most overlooked winners of the year, quietly surpassing the returns of crypto’s two largest ￰4￱ Did XDC Outperform?

Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are entrenched as digital gold and decentralized finance infrastructure, respectively, XDC has carved a niche in the real-world assets (RWA) and trade finance ￰5￱ Adoption : XDC is designed for tokenizing real-world assets, enabling faster settlements and streamlining global trade, areas with trillion-dollar ￰6￱ Efficiency : With near-zero gas fees and energy-efficient consensus, it provides an attractive alternative to Ethereum’s high transaction ￰7￱ USDC + CCTP V2 coming to XDC : On Aug. 26, 2025 , Circle announced that USDC and CCTP V2 are coming to the XDC Network , providing a regulated, on-chain dollar for RWA, trade, and DeFi flows on ￰8￱ Expanded: Kraken & ￰9￱ listed XDC on September 2, 2025, and ￰10￱ lists XDC (XDC/USDT), providing ￰11￱ with straightforward, regulated access to buy and trade ￰12￱ operates on Delegated Proof-of-Stake (XDPoS), which the project documents as being orders of magnitude less energy-intensive than proof-of-work networks, with seconds-level finality and negligible ￰13￱ attributes align with ESG-screened mandates and large institutions seeking to reduce the environmental footprint of on-chain activity. 21Shares launched an XDC ETP on the SIX Swiss Exchange in August 2025, now managing over $30 million in assets under management (AUM) .

This move opened regulated institutional exposure to XDC and bolstered its legitimacy. Long-Term Analysis & Bull Case Some analysts envision a 12x rally if the broader crypto bull cycle returns, leveraging XDC’s hybrid architecture, enterprise focus, and regulatory alignment as key growth ￰14￱ blend of utility and strategic positioning in a growing market segment has fueled XDC’s price ￰15￱ and ETH Still Dominate Headlines Despite XDC’s standout growth, Bitcoin and Ethereum remain the undisputed anchors of the digital asset ecosystem. Bitcoin’s ETF milestone has legitimized its role as a macro hedge for institutions. Ethereum’s roadmap toward scaling (Danksharding, Layer-2 growth) reinforces its dominance in decentralized applications.

Yet, these well-established giants saw lower relative returns than XDC, underscoring how smaller networks can sometimes deliver outsized ￰16￱ Investor Angle For investors, the lesson is clear: while Bitcoin and Ethereum remain essential for stability and liquidity, emerging layer-1 networks like XDC can deliver asymmetric upside , particularly when backed by real-world ￰17￱ suggest that XDC’s performance may not be an isolated event but rather the start of broader recognition for blockchain projects focused on enterprise-grade ￰18￱ of today, XDC trades at around $0.079–$0.080 and is available on major venues, including Kraken, Binance US, KuCoin, Bybit, Gate.

io, MEXC, Bitget, HTX, Bitrue, and many ￰19￱ past year has reminded investors that crypto is more than just Bitcoin and Ethereum. XDC’s 200% rally demonstrates how overlooked assets with strong fundamentals can quietly outperform market leaders.