TL; DR Breakdown
- Polkadot (DOT) is now the 4th largest crypto by market cap
- XRP could suffer catastrophic blow if ruled a security.
The crypto market is shifting again, and this time, the charts are re-arranging as Polkadot moves up by one position. The top 10 largest cryptos (by market cap) have always been a good point of reference when it comes to market movements. Now, it seems like XRP is getting stripped of its position, a spot now occupied by Polkadot (DOT).
The last few days have been a huge challenge for XRP as it battles the negative effects from the current lawsuit facing its creator company, Ripple. A quick glance at the running market placements reveals that XRP price has lost ground while other cryptos like Polkadot have scored gains each day.
Polkadot (DOT) has been thriving
In the past 7 days, Polkadot has surged by over 64%, putting the price at around $15 – according to information on CoinMarketCap. Over the same period, XRP has dropped by 10% to put the price at around $0.28. As a result, Polkadot has gained traction both in popularity and relative acceptance as an interoperability protocol designed to facilitate multi-chain operations. The network uses DOT as its native crypto token which users can use to vote on issues concerning the network’s governance.

Currently, DOT has posted an impressive market cap totaling $13.4 billion as opposed to XRP’s $12.7 billion, effectively making it the 4th largest crypto by market cap. That’s after Tether (3rd place at $24.29 billion), Ethereum (second place at $135.3 billion), and Bitcoin (first place at $681.6 billion).
XRP facing existential threat
For some years, Ripple has endeavored to get XRP accepted as a cryptocurrency as opposed to the views of some who see it as a security. These efforts seem to have somehow back-fired as the US SEC moved to file a suit against Ripple and its top management back in December 2020. According to SEC, Ripple has been illegally transacting with XRP, which SEC sees as a security. The accused include Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse, co-founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen, and Ripple Labs itself.
SEC charges Ripple and two executives with conducting $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering https://t.co/3VP23RpSyV
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) December 22, 2020
The suit has led to investors like Grayscale ditching XRP. Some crypto exchanges have also suspended XRP from their trading platforms, while others have moved to delist it altogether. The latest to take action is Kraken.
With the SEC filing against Ripple Labs, Kraken plans to halt XRP trading for U.S. residents on January 29, 2021. Support for deposits & withdrawals of XRP will continue uninterrupted. Clients residing in other countries are not affected.
— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) January 15, 2021
Full statement: https://t.co/zDz1jwFuiJ
These developments are definitely not in favor of XRP, as they could cause a lasting effect on its market standings. If XRP is ruled a security, it will cease to exist as a crypto and ultimately end its streak as one of the most popular digital tokens backed by the might of a global company.
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