XRP, now the third-largest cryptocurrency after Ethereum and Bitcoin, has hit $0.50 for the first time since 2018. At the time of writing, the price is around $0.57, and the market cap is above $25 billion.
Tether had overtaken it for the third place spot earlier this year, but a recent explosion has given the edge to XRP.
It’s shot up 22% in the past 24 hours, and 100% in the past week.
Other altcoins have been doing well, too—Ethereum and EOSIO (EOS) are up almost 30% over the past week, and Cardano (ADA) is up over 40%. Bitcoin, always the dog to beat, continues to trend steadily upwards; it’s currently valued at over $18k per coin.
XRP was created by a Silicon Valley-based company called Ripple, and doesn’t use a proof-of-work mining process like Bitcoin or the current version of Ethereum. It was more designed to help banks move money quickly than to make purchases or store value.
According to reports, Ripple has been considering a move overseas to avoid potential increased regulation.
XRP reached an all-time high of $3.84 back in 2018. And for a brief moment in 2017, it was the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.