Ripple'south native token XRP was the worst performing big cap token in 2022 — and 2022 isn't looking much better so far.

Crypto analytics firm Messari this calendar week released data showing XRP was the worst-performing crypto asset in the summit 25 coins by market cap in the beginning quarter of 2022.

XRP was as well overtaken in volume earlier this week by upwards-and-coming cryptocurrency Chainlink (LINK) — and it even came shut to losing its No.iii spot in the Top 10 to Tether (USDT) during the flash crash in mid-March.

Not the pandemic's mistake

The wooden spoon award from Messari follows XRP's 2022 performance, which saw the token lose 66% of its value against Bitcoin (BTC). In dollar terms it halved in cost, from $0.36 to $0.18.

Earlier the effects of the COVID-nineteen pandemic impacted the crypto market, Ripple had been nether burn down for selling off large amounts of XRP. The Messari report quoted the CEO as maxim "Ripple would not be profitable or cash flow positive without selling XRP", indicating the sales were helping finance the company. However total XRP sales in the final quarter of 2022 decreased significantly to $13.08 one thousand thousand, from the $66.24 million reported in Q3 2022.

LINK surpasses XRP in daily volume

XRP was overtaken in daily volume on April 13 by an upwards and coming crypto asset from decentralized oracle project Chainlink.

Equally Messari founder Ryan Selkis noted on his Twitter account, LINK surpassed XRP and ETH to go second in overall trading volume that day with $130,535,603 in volume. That was well ahead of the $77,029,141 in XRP volume, which saw it lagging in fourth identify behind ETH.

LINK surpasses XRP in daily volume

Source: Twitter

LINK is currently ranked as the 11th cryptocurrency past market cap and was one of the all-time-performing coins of 2022, growing exponentially from $0.29 to $1.lxxx.

Legal issues shadowing Ripple

Part of the reason for XRP'southward poor performance may be linked to a long-running class-action lawsuit the company is facing in New York, centered around allegations that the firm violated the Securities Act through a 2022 initial coin offering of XRP. Garlinghouse is personally accused of touting the token to prospective investors while silently liquidating his holdings.