Ripple has emerged as crypto’s leading alt-coin, having now over-taken Ethereum in valuation by market cap by a full $1.4 billion dollars at the time of writing.
ETH, which had fallen from a price hovering at $212.5 seven days ago to a current price of $172 (a fall of 19%), has lost ground to XRP which has fallen by only 5% over the same period to $0.48 – in a tumultuous week where, for reasons that remain largely unclear, over $30 billion dollars was wiped off the total market valuation of all crypto-currencies combined.
Another Tough Week for Crypto
Whilst the reasons behind the latest crypto bloodbath remain open to speculation, many analysts have identified the Bitcoin Cash fork wars as a possible trigger.
However, over the course of this week, cryptos have come under fire from a number of other quarters. The SEC’s ruling on Friday against two ICOs which failed to register as securities – with each handed fines of $250,000 – comes on the back of last week’s $400,000 fine handed down to Etherdelta founder Zachary Coburn.
And just yesterday, a leading member of the European Central Bank lashed out at Bitcoin in what has been another prominent establishment attack on Bitcoin.
Benoît Coeuré, of the bank’s executive board, also later referred to cryptocurrencies as a breeding ground for cyber-terrorism.
Whilst it may have been a bad week for cryptos in general, it does nonetheless appear to have been one in which Ripple has consolidated its position as one of the strongest contenders in the crypto space, with Coinbase confirming yesterday its integration of XRP as a native currency on its platform.
