CNBC publicly rated XRP as the "hottest cryptocurrency of the year" on the popular financial program "Power Lunch," a statement that quickly attracted market attention. Host Brian Sullivan stated bluntly that the best-performing mainstream crypto asset this year is neither Bitcoin nor Ethereum, but XRP, whose gains and market cap ranking both demonstrate clear advantages. Sullivan pointed out that XRP has gained more than 20% year-to-date, significantly outperforming Bitcoin and Ethereum. Currently, XRP's market cap has risen to the third-largest cryptocurrency globally, second only to Bitcoin and Ethereum. This ranking change has become an important basis for CNBC's "hottest of the year" assessment.