XRP Gets A Leg Up On Ethereum, Continues To Outperform
As reported by Ethereum World News on Sunday, amid bearish market conditions, with Bitcoin (BTC) continuing to show signs of weakness, XRP, along with its estranged cousin Stellar Lumens (XLM), suddenly began to outperform BTC. More specifically, as Bitcoin fumbled around at $5,600, Ripple’s go-to digital asset began its own mini-bull run, quickly posting gains via its USD and BTC pairs.
Eventually, after a contained surge, catalyzed by an influx of buying pressure and positive community sentiment, XRP recovered fully from Wednesday’s initial sell-off, which saw the asset’s market capitalization surprisingly surpass that of Ethereum (ETH). Regardless, many were still fazed by the fact that the aggregate cryptocurrency market capitalization took a $20 billion haircut.
And as Monday struck, XRP proponents feared the worst, as BTC fell under $5,000 for the first time in 2018 — far from a bullish sign, that’s for sure. However, to the chagrin of XRP’s critics, the asset somehow held, against all the odds and dismal signs, like the fears of centralization and overbought technical indicators.
At the time of writing, Ripple’s cryptocurrency of choice has posted a slight loss of 0.92% — which is almost negligible considering that the Ether, Litecoin, and its neighbors on the cryptocurrency standings lost upwards of 15%.
Bitcoin, for one, fell 12.11% in the past 24 hours, with XRP outperforming its essential ‘godfather’ by 11%, which is nearly unheard of, even in 2017’s jaw-dropping bull run.
Keeping this stellar performance in mind, some have feared that Ethereum’s hegemony as the second-most capitalized crypto asset has come to an end… and for good. Because as it stands, in a move that many didn’t see coming, XRP has taken a near-insurmountable $4.3 billion lead in its race with Ether.
At the time of press, Ripple’s flagship asset goes for $0.494 a pop, a few cents shy from its weekly high.
“Flippening” Talk Erupts, But Not Everyone Is Convinced
Per our previous reports, once the market capitalization of XRP surpassed Ether’s, some of the former project’s adamant supporters took to Twitter to exclaim that Bitcoin should lock its doors and shutter its blinds, as it were. A user by the moniker of “FirePower” even tweeted a meme-of-sorts, which displays the Grim Reaper knocking on the door of Bitcoin after massacring Ether, Litecoin, Stellar Lumens.
It's coming!!! #xrp #xrpthestandard #ripple #xrpcommunity #XRPcommunity pic.twitter.com/Xajuqn3Qyv
— FirePower (@FirePowerFP) November 17, 2018
Ran NeuNer of CNBC Fast Money even tripled-down on his pro-Ripple comments, taking to his dedicated, but a somewhat skeptical following of 92,000 to claim that “at this rate, XRP will be in the number one spot by Friday,” evidently referencing the non-stop “flippening talk.”
Mati Greenspan, eToro’s in-house crypto savant, also took to Twitter to discuss XRP’s rising dominance, touching on the social factor of the cryptocurrency, which is one of the industry’s strongest, to say the least.
Yes, $XRP is winning social and this graph from @coindesk proves it!! pic.twitter.com/mP8WKs0gtd
— Mati Greenspan (tweets ≠ financial advice) (@MatiGreenspan) November 19, 2018
However, some took this “flippening” discussion as nothing more than a joke, with a number of prominent crypto analysts/investors poking fun at the Ripple community through a series of tweets. Moon Overlord, a crypto trader and commentator, joked that he “unironically thinks” that XRP could flip BTC.
BitLord echoed Moon’s penchant for trolling, explaining that as Ripple’s go-to token could flip BTC in 2019, then touching on the “#XRPTheStandard” meme/joke that has circulated around crypto-related social media channels in recent years.
Regardless, it has only become even more apparent that talk surrounding this subject isn’t slated to dissipate anytime soon, that’s for sure.
Title Image Courtesy of Marco Verch via Flickr
