The swift expansion of crypto markets in recent years has seen the ecosystem grow to 1500 “active” projects according to coinmarketcap.com. Of all these, Bitcoin has been the top since inception. Ethereum is Bitcoin’s closest challenger, while Ripple is slightly behind. There was talk that Ethereum could overthrow Bitcoin as the top brass when it comes to cryptocurrencies. However, Bitcoin still defeats Ethereum in both demand and price value. Between Ethereum and Ripple which one is likely going to dethrone Bitcoin?
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Comparing The Leading Cryptocurrencies
Comparing the leading cryptocurrencies can’t be based on market dominance and prices alone. It can’t be about which digital currency has more visibility. However, we will still compare: Bitcoin leads with a 154 billion USD cap. Ethereum has a market cap of 66 billion USD while Ripple trails by 34 billion against Ethereum. Price-wise Bitcoin leads with 9000 USD; ETH, $670 and XRP $0.83.
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What about trade volume?
Bitcoin trumps here with 8.2 billion USD worth of the digital currency traded in 24 hours. ETH is at 2.9 billion USD, and Ripple stands at 620 million USD. From the data above, both challengers will climb a ladder if they are to threaten or overtake Bitcoin. Ethereum seems to be in pole position. However, other factors, like market unpredictability may impact its performance.
Other factors that can determine the result of this contest include scalability, mainstream adoption, transaction speed and acceptance. Ethereum’s utility token has given the platform plenty of room for growth. Over half of the smart contracts and Apps are built on the EVM. Ripple has almost attracted the banking industry exclusively. The platform’s aggressive marketing strategies have seen it gain the largest total of partnerships. Thus if the global banking system embraces Ripple, then there’s a possibility that it can emerge at the top.
Ethereum may not get to that point unless it deals with its blockchain problems and wards off competition. Ripple can be at the top if it gets the global banking sector behind it although questions about its token being a security cast doubts.
