It has been a brutal afternoon and evening for all crypto markets. Bitcoin’s massive losses pushed all other currencies even deeper in the red, which is never a pleasant sight to behold. One noteworthy shift is how XRP has overtaken Ethereum in terms of market cap again. Although this may not last long, XRP’s losses are lower than Ethereum’s in the past few hours.
The XRP Flippening Seems Plausible
It has been brewing for quite some time now, but things are heating up in the cryptocurrency market cap department. More specifically, there has been a very real chance XRP would overtake Ethereum in terms of total valuation. This has happened multiple times in the past few weeks, although Ethereum also comes out on top. While this time around may not be any different, the event keeps repeating itself regardless.
In the past 24 hours, the XRP price has faced a massive setback. That is not entirely difficult to explain, as Bitcoin lost 12% as well. As is usually the case, altcoins will follow Bitcoin’s lead more often than not. That would explain why Ethereum has lost a nearly identical value, whereas XRP has seen a smaller setback first and foremost. It clearly shows speculators favor XRP over Ethereum at this time.
This is quite an interesting trend to keep an eye on. Currently, a $50m gap separates Ethereum from XRP in terms of market cap. Although it is evident there are still many things that can turn around in the coming hours, this is a rather interesting gap worthy of keeping an eye on. This is far from an insurmountable gap, as Ethereum needs less effort to push it back into the #2 spot.
When looking at the bigger picture, it seems XRP’s global recognition is finally being valued correctly. Numerous companies want to integrate Ripple technology, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the XRP price in the process. After all, developments like these provide real-life use value for XRP, primarily because it targets the financial sector.
No one will deny there is a bright future ahead for Ethereum as well. Although its approach is very different, no one can deny the project is doing a lot of things right. In the financial department, however, it lags behind XRP in many different ways. Putting the current market cap aside, Ethereum is a more expensive network to use for transferring value. Changing that situation will not happen throughout 2018, by the look of things.
For the time being, there will be plenty of attention as to whether or not Ethereum can reclaim the second place in the market cap rankings. That seems to be a matter of time, even though XRP is reducing its losses a lot quicker. Even then, it needs to note strong gains before Ethereum does, as there was a discrepancy between the two prior to this market dip. XRP may be one of the first coins to recover, whereas Ethereum still faces a steep uphill battle.
Disclaimer: This is not trading or investment advice. The above article is for entertainment and education purposes only. Please do your own research before purchasing or investing into any cryptocurrency.
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