Crypto investors were in for a rude shock Tuesday morning. The cryptocurrency market shed more than $20 billion in the past few hours. Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum were the worst hit, with BCH losing almost 50% of its value. But not all virtual coins suffered sharp price declines. Ripple (XRP) and Stellar Lumen were the least affected.
Ripple and Stellar Lumen are the best performers. Ripple lost less than 10%. It is down from around $0.49 in Nov.15 to $0.45 on Nov 20. It is now leading Ethereum with over $4 billion in terms of market capitalization.
Most cryptocurrencies have been struggling since the start of 2018. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and other major lost nearly 90% in value. For example, Bitcoin was trading at around $20,000 in December 2017. At the time of writing, the largest virtual currency by market capitalization is worth about $4,500.
Will it surpass Bitcoin?
Last week saw Ripple surpassing Ethereum to become world’s second digital currency by market cap. Recently, Douglas Borthwick who is a cryptocurrency influencer said in a clip that Ripple (XRP) might dethrone Bitcoin from the top stop, as well.
According to him, many countries will pair their official currencies with Ripple. And due to this real-world application, XRP will increase rapidly in value. Unlike Bitcoin, Ripple is supported by regulators and many reputable financial institutions globally. XRP has partnered with dozens of financial giants across the world. Trump administration is also quite positive about it. However, crypto purists are at loggerheads as to whether Ripple (XRP) is truly decentralized. The idea of it working closely with financial institutions does not sit well with a majority of crypto purists and cypherpunks.
Whether Ripple (XRP) will surpass Bitcoin in future remains to be seen.