Polkadot surpasses XRP to grab the 4th slot
3 min readTL; DR Breakdown
- Polkadot (DOT) is now the 4th largest crypto by market cap
- XRP could suffer a catastrophic blow if ruled a security
The crypto market is shifting again, and this time, the charts are re-arranging as Polkadot moves up by one position. The top 10 largest cryptos (by market cap) have always been a good point of reference when it comes to market movements. Now, it seems like XRP is getting stripped of its position, a spot now occupied by Polkadot (DOT).
The last few days have been a huge challenge for XRP as it battles the negative effects resulting from the current lawsuit facing its creator company, Ripple. A quick glance at the running market placements reveals that XRP price has been losing ground while other cryptos like Polkadot have been scoring gains each day.
Polkadot (DOT) has been thriving
In the past 7 days, Polkadot has surged by over 64%, putting the price at around $15 – according to information on CoinMarketCap. Over the same period, XRP has dropped by 10% to put the price at around $0.28. As a result, Polkadot has been gaining traction both in popularity and relative acceptance as an interoperability protocol designed to facilitate multi-chain operations. The network uses DOT as its native crypto token which users can use to vote on issues concerning the network’s governance.
Currently, DOT has posted an impressive Market Cap totaling $13.4 billion as opposed to XRP’s $12.7 billion, effectively making it the 4th largest crypto by market cap. That’s after Tether (3rd place at $24.29 billion), Ethereum (second place at $135.3 billion), and Bitcoin (first place at $681.6 billion).
XRP facing an existential threat
For some years, Ripple has been lobbying to get XRP ratified as a cryptocurrency as opposed to the views of some who see it as a security. These efforts seem to have somehow back-fired as the US SEC moved to file a suit against Ripple and its top management back in December 2020. According to SEC, Ripple has been illegally transacting with XRP, which SEC sees as a security. The accused include Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse, co-founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen, and Ripple Labs itself.
The suit has led to investors like Grayscale ditching XRP. Some crypto exchanges suspending XRP from their trading platforms, while others have moved to delist it altogether. The latest to take action is Kraken.
These developments are in no way in favor of XRP, and they could cause a lasting effect on its market standings. If XRP is ruled a security, it will cease to exist as a crypto and ultimately end its streak as one of the most popular digital tokens backed by the might of a global company.
