Traders Expect XRP to Upend Ethereum – But It Needs $233 Billion to Make It Happen – DL News

XRP’s market capitalization may soon overtake Ethereum again after the Ripple-issued cryptocurrency surged 22% this week, several prominent and influential cryptocurrency traders say.

At Ethereum’s price of $3,203, XRP’s market cap would flip if it reached $6.75 per token — an increase of 138% from its current price of $2.83.

“I think extraordinarily that XRP has the potential to temporarily upend ETH, and if everything goes crazy, maybe even BTC,” DonAlt, a pseudonymous cryptocurrency trader with 646,000 followers, said on X.

numerous Other large accounts It published similar predictions even though XRP’s total market capitalization is close to $164 billion — not even half that of Ethereum’s $397 billion. This is a $233 billion market cap gap that XRP will need to fill to dethrone Ethereum as the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.

However, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency has failed to do so keep up With Bitcoin, Solana and XRP growing in recent months. Since November, XRP is up 433% while the Ethereum token price is up just 27%.

XRP overtook Tether as the third-largest cryptocurrency earlier in January. If XRP overtakes Ethereum, it will signal a massive shift in the cryptocurrency market and add to Ethereum’s woes.

the last time The market valued the value of XRP higher than the value of Ethereum in January 2018.

During the 2021 bull market, Ethereum followers speculated that the asset could one day upend Bitcoin’s market cap, an event dubbed “Flipping“Fast forward four years, and now XRP bulls They talk about a different kind of flop.

“Big win for Ripple”

Several developments have boosted the price of XRP in recent weeks.

With the imminent resignation of anti-crypto Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, the regulator’s lengthy lawsuit against XRP’s parent company, Ripple, may soon come to an end.

“If the SEC appeal is denied, or if the next SEC leadership chooses to settle instead, this would be a huge win for Ripple,” said Carlos Guzman, a former GSR Research analyst. He said DL News.

Earlier this month, Ripple I set off US hiring spree as CEO Brad Garlinghouse He said On X the cryptocurrency company did more business in the US in the last six weeks of 2024 than in the previous six months.

“Say what you want, but the ‘Trump effect’ is actually making crypto cool again,” Garlinghouse said, referring to expectations that the president-elect will usher in more crypto-friendly regulations in the US that will enable the industry to grow explosively.

Google is interested in searching for XRP as well Transgression Bitcoin debuted for the first time ever today, indicating growing interest among investors.

But there may also be headwinds.

Monday investor note from JPMorgan Argue Demand for a potential XRP exchange-traded fund may not be as high as bulls expect.

The bank expected the XRP ETF to attract about $8 billion — just a small portion of the capital that flowed into Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.

Crypto market drivers

• Bitcoin rose 3% in the past 24 hours to $99,205.
• Ethereum price rose 3% over the same period to reach $3,304.

What we read

Tim Craig is the DeFi reporter at DL News based in Edinburgh. Connect with tips on tim@dlnews.com.