Cryptocurrency Market Volatility in March

In the opening days of March, the cryptocurrency market experienced a significant degree of volatility.

President Trump’s announcement of a crypto strategic reserve spurred a sharp increase in digital asset prices on March 2. However, just a day later, the imposition of tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China sent a shockwave throughout financial markets, as investors and traders rushed to lock in their profits amid a risk asset selloff.

XRP has proven surprisingly resistant to these new challenges. On both a year-to-date (YTD) basis and in the last week, the token has outperformed Bitcoin (BTC). XRP’s continued success proves that its focus on low-cost, high-speed transactions has secured both the confidence of investors and tangible, real-world utility.

With that said, XRP is far from the only digital asset focused on utility. In fact, investing in some lesser-known competitors could reward investors with superior gains. Today, we’ll be taking a look at two cryptocurrencies like XRP — and why they’re on a solid track to deliver outsized returns in 2025.

Stellar (XLM)

Stellar (XLM) has historically mirrored XRP’s price action closely — but as of late, its price swings have been a tad more intense. However, this added degree of volatility is not necessarily a bad thing — at present, the cryptocurrency’s relative strength index (RSI) stands at 36, inching toward oversold territory.

Back in mid-February, Finbold’s artificial intelligence (AI) price prediction tool, leveraging various models, set an average price target of $0.330 for XLM for March 1. The prediction was almost right on the money — Stellar reached that price a day later, on March 2, and subsequently surged to $0.36052.

The cryptocurrency did feel the sting of the recent market-wide pullback — by press time, XLM was trading at a price of $0.29038, after a 19.45% pullback.

In the last 7 days, prices have increased by 6%, although year-to-date losses still stand at 16.97%.

In spite of recent challenges, XLM remains in a strong position for a rebound and further growth in 2025. On February 19, Stellar Development Foundation CEO Denelle Dixon announced that the network is ‘feature complete’ for the next decade, with the focus on scaling going forward.

While the output of AI models cannot replace due diligence and personal research, it’s worth noting that OpenAI’s ChatGPT predicted that, under favorable conditions, XLM could reach prices as high as $1.75 to $2 by late 2025. If met, those forecasts would equate to a 502.65% and 588.75% rally, respectively.

For readers interested in a more human touch, crypto analyst Javon Marks outlined a case for a rally to $0.681 in mid-January, as covered by Finbold. Marks is still confident that there is enough momentum for that price target to be reached.

Hedera (HBAR)

Hedera (HBAR), which also boasts high transaction speeds and low costs, is another appealing alternative to XRP. Despite being launched 6 years after XRP, HBAR has become a popular blockchain solution for numerous businesses due to its enterprise-grade governance model.

The affordable token has seen prices decrease by 17.16% since the start of the year. At press time on March 4, HBAR was trading at a price of $0.23507, following a 29.65% surge on the weekly chart. Year-to-date losses stood at 16.63% at the time of writing.

Additionally, Canary Capital filed for a spot Hedera exchange-traded fund (ETF) back in November, showcasing significant institutional interest in the token, not only in terms of utility but as a speculative asset.

Hedera’s relative strength index stands at an even-keeled 47 — indicating the absence of a strong trend. In late December, AI models set a price target of $0.50 to $0.75 for HBAR, citing the myriad use cases that Hedera secured in the realm of real-world asset tokenization (RWA). Those price targets imply a 112.70% and 219.05% upside compared to current prices.

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