23 Apr Tether Surpasses XRP to Become the Third-Largest Cryptocurrency
- The market capitalization of Tether (USDT) surpassed that of XRP this week.
- The dollar-pegged stablecoin is now the third-largest cryptocurrency.
- Macro factors led the demand for USDT higher, including traders’ flight-to-cash amidst the fast-spreading novel Coronavirus pandemic.
Tether has replaced XRP, the native token of the San Francisco-based blockchain payment firm Ripple Labs, to become the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
The dollar-pegged stablecoin, which protects traders from the extreme volatility associated with Bitcoin and similar crypto-assets, saw its reported valuation surpassing $7.5 billion on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the size of the XRP market squeezed under $5.5 billion as its prices fell into negative territory on a year-to-date timeframe.
Tether Demand Up
The rise in Tether’s market capitalization followed a voluminous flight to cash in the first quarter of 2020. Data…