By market capitalisation, XRP was the second-largest cryptocurrency ten years ago. With XRP sitting just behind Bitcoin on this day in 2014, it has solidified its position as a major force in the cryptocurrency market.
The accomplishment demonstrates XRP’s early significance and the community’s lasting strength, despite the fact that a lot has happened in the cryptocurrency ecosystem since then.
Satoshi Club, an X account that tracks events in the cryptocurrency industry, recently tweeted a glimpse of what the top 10 cryptocurrencies looked like precisely ten years ago. A snapshot of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation at the moment was included in the tweet.
https://x.com/esatoshiclub/status/1851610254225625273
With a market valuation of $4.7 billion at the time, Bitcoin (BTC) came in top. In terms of market capitalisation, XRP came in second. The market value of XRP was at $131 million at the moment.
The following cryptocurrencies came in third to tenth place, respectively: Litecoin, Bitshares, Dogecoin, Nxt, Peercoin, Maidsafecoin, Counterparty, and Namecoin. At the time, Ethereum was not yet a thing. In July 2015, the Ethereum blockchain became well known.
There were fewer projects at the time, and the cryptocurrency industry was much less than it is now. XRP gained popularity due to its ability to facilitate faster and more affordable transactions, and its unique consensus method distinguished it from Bitcoin’s proof-of-work approach.
Up until 2018, when it hit an all-time high of $3.84 on January 3, 2018, XRP sporadically held the second-largest cryptocurrency position.
What’s changed?
In the present, XRP is still in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation, even if it is no longer the second largest. XRP is still one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation, even after the legal dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Prior to the December 2020 lawsuit against Ripple, XRP was often rated as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market value.
After the historic decision in the Ripple-SEC case in July 2023, XRP momentarily surged to ranking fourth in terms of market capitalisation.
With a market valuation of over $29.85 billion, XRP is now the seventh-largest cryptocurrency, according to CoinMarketCap statistics. Bitcoin is now the biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, with a valuation of approximately $1.42 trillion. Ethereum has a $324 billion market value, making it the second biggest cryptocurrency.
