XRP returns to the 3rd-largest crypto after a 4-year battle with the SEC
XRP, developed and issued by United States blockchain company Ripple, has made a historic comeback as the third largest coin by market capitalization and has sparked community response.
XRP (XRP) was delisted from the top three cryptocurrencies in December 2020 after the US Securities and Exchange Commission accused Ripple of facilitating an “unregistered digital asset security offering”.
As the SEC lawsuit nears resolution and Ripple is scoring a number of legal victories in 2024, XRP recorded a significant increase in November following Donald Trump's victory in the United States presidential election.
Top five coins by market capitalization as of December 2. Source: CoinGecko
After years behind Tether's stablecoin, USDt (USDT), Binance's BNB (BNB), Solana (SOL), and Circle's USD Coin (USDC), XRP is now the third largest cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
“This was the situation before December 22, 2020,” wrote XRP pro-XRP advocate John Deaton on X.
Four years as the seventh-largest coin
When the SEC sued Ripple in December 2020, the price dropped from $0.50 to $0.17, wiping out more than $15 billion in market value, Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett said in an X post on December 1, 2024.
“XRP spent the next four years in the #7 position as the price recovered,” Terrett added.
XRP market value next to UDST, BNB, SOL and USDC on August 28, 2024. Source: CoinGecko
“Falling out of the top 10 speaks volumes,” said one commenter.
XRP is now more popular than crypto: Google Trends
During the massive XRP crash in November, the cryptocurrency made waves on the web, with Google searches related to XRP rising above those related to “crypto.”
According to data from Google Trends, searches for “XRP” outnumbered searches for “crypto” on Google at least three times in November.
Related: Ripple's XRP Token Overturns Solana's Market Capitalization
Current metrics suggest that users should continue to look for XRP from crypto in general at the time of writing.
Searches for “XRP” broke above “crypto” on Google. Source: Altcoin Daily
According to Google Trends, XRP overtook ETH in Google searches in early November, but the data suggests that it may not have overtaken Bitcoin.
Will XRP replace ETH?
At the time of writing, XRP had a long way to go before beating Ether as the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, with ETH's market cap 219% higher than XRP's.
According to Christopher Jazczynski, a crypto trader who posts on X under the social media brand name MMCrypto, XRP will topple ETH when its price rises to $7.75.
XRP (XRP) last year price chart. Source: CoinGecko
At the time of writing, XRP is at $2.35, up 24% in the last 24 hours. Since November 1st, the price of XRP has risen 341%, with a yearly return of approximately 280%.
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