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On Wednesday, XRP climbed to an intraday peak of $2.895 and, as of press time, is trading at $2.87 per unit, reflecting an increase of nearly 12% over the past 24 hours. The crypto asset is steadily narrowing the gap with ethereum (ETH), now accounting for 42.6% of ether’s market capitalization.
Ethereum’s Dominance Under Threat as XRP Gains Ground
In recent years, discussions within the crypto community have often revolved around the possibility of ethereum (ETH) surpassing bitcoin (BTC) or solana (SOL) overtaking ethereum. Despite the speculation, neither scenario has materialized. However, XRP appears to be gaining traction in its bid to challenge ETH’s position at the top.
Currently priced at $2.87 over the past hour, XRP boasts a market capitalization of $164 billion, compared to ethereum’s (ETH) $385 billion valuation. With XRP sitting at 42.6% of ETH’s market cap, it would require an increase of $221 billion to surpass ether. There are presently 57,493,120,449 XRP in circulation, and the digital asset is trading around 18% below its all-time high.
XRP reached its peak price on Jan. 7, 2017, nearly seven years ago, when each coin was valued at $3.40. However, even at that price, XRP would fall short of overtaking ETH. Assuming ethereum’s price and supply remain constant, and XRP’s supply stays unchanged, XRP would need to rise by 133.5% against the U.S. dollar to claim the top spot. This would put XRP at an estimated $6.70 per coin.
Notably, XRP once held the title of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, prior to the ascent of tether (USDT) and ethereum (ETH). At the end of Aug. 2013, XRP ranked third, with a valuation of $47.71 million. By Sept. 22, 2013, it had climbed to the second position with a market cap of $100.59 million.
However, during the 2013 bull market, litecoin (LTC) managed to overtake XRP by the end of the year, a position LTC held well into 2014. It wasn’t until Oct. 2014 that XRP reclaimed its second-place ranking, reaching a market cap of $138.81 million when trading at $0.004789 per coin. With the rise of ethereum and the subsequent 2016–2017 bull run, XRP lost its second-place position once again and has not regained it since. For much of its early existence, XRP remained valued at less than a single U.S. penny.
XRP’s steady progress toward Ethereum’s market cap highlights its growing potential, but challenges remain. While surpassing ETH’s valuation may still require significant growth, the ongoing momentum of XRP suggests that the competition at the top could intensify. As the crypto market evolves, XRP’s positioning will likely continue to generate considerable interest among investors and analysts alike.