XRP has once again surged to become the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, reclaiming its position ahead of Tether. Currently trading at $2.61, XRP’s market cap has reached nearly $153 billion, thanks to a recent uptick in market sentiment driven by the US-China deal talks. In the last three days, XRP has seen a 7-12% increase in value, reflecting the positive market momentum.
One of the key drivers behind XRP’s recent surge is the $1 billion rise in Open Interest in XRP futures. Data from Glassnode shows that XRP futures open interest jumped from $2.42 billion to $3.42 billion in just a week, indicating increased speculative activity and growing trader confidence in the cryptocurrency. Additionally, the growth in XRP wallets, with nearly 6.5 million non-empty wallets, suggests strong interest from both retail and institutional investors.
Technical indicators also point to a bullish trend for XRP, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) in neutral territory and most moving averages signaling buy signals. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator also shows bullish momentum for XRP.
Looking ahead, there is speculation that XRP could outperform Ethereum in the coming years. Analysts at Standard Chartered predict that XRP will overtake Ethereum in market cap by 2028, driven by its utility as a platform for cross-border and cross-currency payments. The XRP ETF has seen consistent inflows, with $14 million added this week, leading to expectations of further demand growth if SEC approves XRP ETFs.
Some analysts even suggest that if XRP’s price doubles to $5.20, it could surpass Ethereum and become the second-largest cryptocurrency. Attorney John Deaton believes that XRP has more appeal to Wall Street than is currently acknowledged and could potentially flip Ethereum by the end of this year.
However, Ethereum has also been performing well, nearing the $2,700 mark with a 50% gain in the past two weeks. It will be interesting to see if XRP can maintain its momentum and potentially overtake Ethereum in the future.