Solana Overtakes XRP, Becomes Fifth Largest Cryptocurrency

The native coin of the Solana blockchain, SOL, has astonishingly recently surpassed XRP to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization. This success comes in the wake of a dramatic 700 % rise in SOL’s value since last year. At present, SOL has a market cap of US $ 34 billion and ranks second only to Binance Coin (BNB), Tether (USDT), Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin.

The Unstoppable Momentum of Solana

Among 2023’s leading 100cryptocurrencies, SOL ranks among the best performers of all. On the other hand, XRP’s value has risen by no more than 80 %, which is similar to Ethereum. Significantly, XRP is also heading into a very important jury trial in its ongoing battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which further clouds its prospects for the future at present uncertainly are very high?

Solana’s Post-FTX Bankruptcy Resurgence

The path of Solana has been anything but smooth. During the 2021 bull rally it frequently outstripped XRP as well, though it couldn’t catch up to Tether in fourth place. But its recent surge is also partly attributable to regaining a footing after plummeting during the bankruptcy proceedings for FTX in November 2022. However, when negative sentiment towards Bankman-Fried triggered a selloff of assets tied to him by investors, the market value fell sharply through one building block in his ecosystem–his investment firm Alameda Research’s holdings in the Solana ecosystem (including Sol itself), which is why this particular token has rebounded so much more vigorously.

Solana’s Journey Amidst Market Fluctuations

Prior to the FTX debacle, Solana was a sure-fire top 10 token and worth around half as much as XRP. Yet, months later it fell to the bottom of the top 20 behind such tokens as Polkadot (DOT), Tron (TRX) and Shiba Inu (SHIB). What’s noteworthy about the recent rise of XRP above this threshold is that it signals a major change in its market status, and brings to stark relief just how volatile overall cryptocurrency markets can be.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

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