The continuous circulation of capital among crypto projects leads to the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market. Ripple’s popular altcoin XRP is currently ranked 6th by market value among all cryptocurrencies. XRP’s market value stands at $28.02 billion, while the total market value of the cryptocurrency market hovers around $1.51 trillion. Under current conditions, XRP constitutes 1.85% of the total market value.
A 1% Increase in Market Dominance Could Take XRP to $0.80
As with financial markets, supply and demand in the cryptocurrency market continuously drive the price of an asset up and down. Capital in the crypto market tends to flow from one cryptocurrency to another. For example, the largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) currently represents 51% of the total market value of the cryptocurrency market, nearly $785 billion.
If only 1% of the total market value were to shift to Ripple’s altcoin, in other words, if XRP’s market dominance were to increase by 1% and the supply of the altcoin remained unchanged, its market value would increase by $15.16 billion, taking XRP’s market value to $43.18 billion. In this scenario, XRP’s price could be expected to rise to $0.794.
Ripple’s Moves Are Pressuring XRP’s Price
On the other hand, the continuous increase in XRP’s circulating supply causes the price to remain at the same or similar levels. Ripple, as the largest holder of XRP, pressures the price by increasing the monthly supply of new XRP to the market. The effect of supply can be seen in the XRP market value chart below. It is clearly visible, especially after the great rally of 2017-2018, that XRP reached its peak market value and the price retreated under selling pressure while trying to find its fair value.
Since then, although the total market value has increased significantly, XRP’s price has been trending downward. Therefore, instead of increasing, XRP’s dominance against the overall cryptocurrency market is continuously decreasing.
However, this observed trend could change in the future if demand for Ripple’s altcoin increases. XRP’s use cases for money transfers and payments could lead to high adoption and help absorb the selling pressure.
