Tether (USDT) is 66.5× the size of Ripple USD (RLUSD) by market capitalisation. Their daily returns move closely in opposite directions (correlation -0.70 across 60 shared trading days). USDT has been the more volatile of the two, at 1% annualised against RLUSD's 0%.
RLUSDUSDT
-0.70over 60 shared trading days
Measured on daily returns rather than on prices. Two assets that both simply trend upward score near 1.0 on raw prices whether or not they move together, so returns are what answer the question people mean by correlation.
| Metric | RLUSD | USDT |
|---|---|---|
| Max drawdown (400d) | -0.2% | -0.2% |
| Risk-adjusted return (90d) | 0.20 | -0.05 |
Relative strength over 90 days: RLUSD outperformed USDT by 0.1% — measured on the RLUSD/USDT ratio, so it holds regardless of market direction.