XRP, Ethereum Face ’Total Burn’ Reality Check - What’s Next for Crypto Giants?

XRP and Ethereum investors face a brutal truth - achieving meaningful price surges would require what analysts call a 'total burn' scenario.

The Burning Question

Market dynamics suggest both major cryptocurrencies need near-total supply destruction to match current valuation expectations. Forget gradual token burns - we're talking nuclear-level reduction.

Supply Shock Reality

With circulating supplies in the billions, even aggressive burning mechanisms barely make a dent. XRP's 100 billion total supply and Ethereum's endless minting capacity create permanent headwinds against scarcity-driven price pumps.

Institutional Calculus

Major funds run the numbers and see the math doesn't math - unless someone figures out how to vaporize 90% of existing tokens overnight. Good luck with that regulatory nightmare.

Meanwhile, traditional finance keeps minting actual money while crypto struggles with basic tokenomics - because nothing says 'sound investment' like needing to destroy most of your assets to make the remaining ones valuable.

Key Takeaways

• An off-price apparel retailer benefitted from solid results and an improved outlook on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, while losses mounted for an enterprise software giant.
  
• Ross Stores topped quarterly expectations and raised its outlook for the key holiday period, and shares of the discount retailer surged.
• Oracle shares extended their recent downtrend amid concerns about its valuation and spending needs.

Shares of an off-price apparel retailer climbed after the company touted its success in the back-to-school season and issued a rosy outlook for the critical holiday quarter. Meanwhile, a database software firm remained under pressure as questions linger about its valuation and capacity to meet lofty targets.

Major U.S. equities indexes bounced back Friday, clawing back losses posted in the prior session. The S&P 500 ended the final trading session of the week 0.9% higher. The Dow added 1.1%, while the Nasdaq ROSE 0.8%. See here for Investopedia's full wrap-up of Friday's major market moves. 

Shares of Ross Stores (ROST) surged 8.4% after the off-price apparel, footwear, and accessories retailer surpassed third-quarter sales and profit estimates. The company is the latest discount retailer to demonstrate it's benefiting from consumers' bargain-seeking. Ross highlighted strength in the back-to-school shopping season and raised its outlook, pointing to Optimism about the crucial holiday period.

Comments from John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, helped boost expectations that policymakers might cut interest rates in December. Rate-cut optimism boosted the stocks of companies exposed to the housing market, which stand to benefit from lower mortgage rates. Shares of residential construction materials supplier Builders FirstSource (BLDR) jumped 7.1%, while homebuilders D.R. Horton (DHI) and Lennar (LEN) also notched solid gains.

Insulet (PODD) shares climbed 5.8% a day after the medical device Maker held an investor day event. The manufacturer of continuous glucose monitoring devices provided a three-year sales and profit forecast that exceeded consensus expectations. Several research firms raised their price targets on Insulet stock following the event.

Oracle (ORCL) shares tumbled 5.7%, extending their recent downtrend and suffering the heaviest decline of any S&P 500 stock Friday. The database software and cloud computing giant has been rattled recently by concerns about its elevated valuation and heavy borrowing tied to its data center investments. Following Friday's drop, the stock is down around 28% over the past month.

Nvidia (NVDA) shares slid 1% as concerns about an AI bubble continued to weigh on high-flying tech stocks. Friday's decline extended the stock's 3% loss yesterday despite the AI chip giant blowing past estimates with its third-quarter earnings report. Nvidia's largest rivals, Broadcom (AVGO) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), shed 1.9% and 1.1%, respectively, on Friday. Nuclear power providers Vistra (VST) and Constellation Energy Corp. (CEG), whose stocks soared over the past year as they struck multi-billion dollar deals to power AI data centers, were also dogged by bubble fears. Their stocks fell a respective 3% and 2.2%.