All cryptocurrency and digital asset projects are ranked by market cap. Bitcoin remains the top dog despite a very bearish 2018. Behind Bitcoin, Ethereum is no longer the number two. Instead, Ripple’s XRP has overtaken Ethereum in terms of total valuation. This is a direct result of the most recent market dip, although this change has been brewing for some time.
XRP Claims the Second Market Cap Spot
The year 2018 can be divided into multiple segments. On the price front, all currencies have lost tremendous value. Even this week, another big setback occurred. That affects Bitcoin, as well as all altcoins, tokens, and digital assets. A somewhat surprising side effect of this trend is how market cap rankings get shaken up. Very few projects maintain a value of over $1bn at this time.
The bigger change is how the top three ranked by market cap is no longer the same. Ethereum and XRP are both in the top three, but their places swapped. At this time, XRP’s valuation is higher than Ethereum’s. Statistics by Coinmarketcap confirm a $1.2bn gap separates both ecosystems at this time. Not an insurmountable discrepancy, yet it is a very big lead regardless. Even today, the value of XRP continues to increase slightly, whereas Ether’s value keeps dropping.
When looking at the bigger picture, this trend only becomes more apparent. Every time Bitcoin loses a lot of value, XRP seems to hold its own quite well. Ethereum appears to be closely linked to Bitcoin’s price movements in this regard. A very intriguing trend which may lead to a bigger gap between XRP and ETH moving forward. That may also indicate XRP will maintain its market cap lead over Ethereum for some time to come.
The Bullish News Pushing XRP Higher
Developments like these do not happen without a good reason. For XRP, there has been a string of bullish news to drive the price higher. It is only normal this affects the project’s market cap ranking at the same time. An ongoing “debacle’ between Ripple and Swift has resulted in surprising bullish momentum for Ripple. CEO Brad Garlinghouse goes as far as claiming his company’s technology can replace Swift’s infrastructure altogether.
Furthermore, the commercialization of xRapid is in full effect. Numerous service providers are integrating Ripple’s technology. xRapid’s Main purpose is to facilitate cross-border transactions. It helps reduce costs while improving overall settlement speed. The role of XRP. XRP Speculators consider this commercialization to have a positive impact on the native asset’s price as well.
In the payments space, XRP becomes more commonly accepted as well. The latest firm to offer support is Omni. This physical storage and online rental service provider lets clients pay in XRP. As more use cases become apparent, the market cap of this asset grows larger. While XRP might not rival Bitcoin in this regard, it seems to outpace Ethereum as of late.
Do you think Ripple’s XRP will hold onto the #2 spot? Let us know in the comments below.
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