Thomas Daniels
After Bitcoin and Ethereum, XRP is now the third-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market valuation. According to data from crypto.news, the market capitalization of the digital asset is getting close to $140 billion, outpacing Tether’s $137 billion by a margin of $2 billion.
With a 15% gain in the last week alone, XRP has risen roughly 350% over the last 12 months, capping an incredible year of growth. The most recent rise, which lasted for three days in a row, is credited to Ripple Labs’ introduction of Ripple USD (RLUSD), a stablecoin backed by the US dollar that was first offered in December.
Speculation of regulatory clearance for an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) has contributed to the momentum of XRP. Firms like WisdomTree and Bitwise are vying to launch the first XRP-based ETF under the direction of pro-crypto SEC chairman Paul Atkins.
The European Union’s implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rule on December 30 caused Tether’s market capitalization to decline by $1.6 billion. Another factor in the drop was Coinbase’s December 13 delisting of Tether for non-compliance with MiCA.
With almost 80% of its global trading volume, Tether continues to dominate Asia in spite of these obstacles. Tether may be able to bounce back from its defeats in the EU and recoup ground in the global cryptocurrency scene because to this strength in the Asian market.
