Litecoin briefly flips XRP as 4th largest crypto amid Ripple–SEC spat

Published at: Jan. 4, 2021

Litecoin (LTC) and XRP briefly traded places in market capitalization rankings over the weekend, highlighting the impact of the recent lawsuit against Ripple filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

The so-called “flippening” happened early Sunday when Litecoin’s market cap hit $9.95 billion following a more than 12% surge in price. XRP, meanwhile, had declined in excess of 25% over a 24-hour trading period. 

LITECOIN JUST FLIPPED XRP pic.twitter.com/yjBq15JtpV

— HODLGeorge (@BitfuryGeorge) January 3, 2021

At press time, XRP was back in the fourth position with a market cap of $10.5 billion. Litecoin, meanwhile, was worth just over $9.9 billion. In the last seven days, Litecoin’s price has gained roughly 14% while XRP has tumbled nearly 20%.

Litecoin’s price has more than doubled since mid-December, highlighting Bitcoin’s gravitational pull on the broader market. XRP was also on a tear before the SEC announced a lawsuit against Ripple for allegedly violating securities laws. Peak to trough, XRP price tumbled more than 73%, according to CoinMarketCap data.

XRP’s road to recovery is likely to be a bumpy one as investors await the outcome of the litigation — a process that could take several years to play out. Without a settlement with the SEC, the value of XRP could struggle to regain momentum. A wave of delistings at major exchanges also threatens XRP's rebound potential.

Meanwhile, Litecoin’s ascendancy likely has more to do with Bitcoin than any change in the project’s underlying fundamentals. Cointelegraph highlighted an apparent surge in altcoin volume in December as Bitcoin’s price zipped past $20,000.

The total market cap of all cryptocurrencies rose to all-time highs over the weekend, peaking at around $907 billion.

Tags
Sec
Bitcoin Price
Xrp
Ripple
Security
Litecoin
Related Posts
XRP price rebounds after worst month since June 2021 — major recovery ahead?
Ripple (XRP) opened in May with a decent price rebound after falling 28% in April, its worst monthly performance since June 2021. Furthermore, the XRP/USD pair shows prospects of continuing its recovery trend in the coming weeks. Support confluence raises XRP bullish prospects XRP's price rose by nearly 6.25% in the first two days of May, going as high as $0.63 (data from Binance). The buying sentiment surged around $0.58, a level that acted as strong support in January 2022 and enabled XRP to rise by more than 50% thereafter. Interestingly, the $0.58-support coincides with XRP's 200-week exponential moving average …
Sec / May 2, 2022
XRP purchasers back Ripple, arguing that it is not a security
On Dec. 22, 2020, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Ripple Labs. The complaint essentially alleged that Ripple had engaged in a multi-year, sustained practice of illegally selling unregistered, non-exempt securities in the form of its XRP tokens. This complaint, having been filed on the last day of former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton’s tenure at the commission, led to a considerable volume of public commentary, as is not unusual for SEC litigation against major players in the crypto space. What is unusual about SEC versus Ripple is the reaction from a sizable segment of XRP …
Technology / March 21, 2021
XRP whales are sinking fast
Wallets holding oversized XRP positions are plunging quickly in the wake of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Ripple. Industry data reveals just how quickly these so-called XRP whales are sinking. Coin Metrics, a leading data provider on all things cryptocurrency and blockchain, estimated that the number of wallet addresses holding at least 1 million XRP has dropped to 1,567 from 1,721 between Dec. 21, 2020 and Jan. 3. In other words, it appears that XRP whales are liquidating a portion of their holdings amid regulatory uncertainty surrounding Ripple. As the following chart from Coin Metrics illustrates, …
Sec / Jan. 5, 2021
Ripple vows to respond to SEC ‘attack’ amid exchange delistings of XRP
With XRP plunging in value following a wave of exchange delistings and trading suspensions, Ripple Labs issued a statement Tuesday vowing to respond to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s allegations against the company. The statement opens with the following message: “The public and press have only heard the story from the SEC’s side, and we’ll be filing our response in a few weeks to address these unproven allegations against Ripple.” The statement claims that the SEC is using Ripple to bring down the entire cryptocurrency industry in the United States and that, for years, the company has sought …
Sec / Dec. 29, 2020
XRP gains 30% after Ripple gets permission to explain ‘fair notice defense’ vs. SEC
XRP price rose by nearly 30% in less than a week amid positive sentiment around the court case, in which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claims that Ripple sold XRP as illegal securities. SEC vs. Ripple Judge Analisa Torres has granted Ripple permission to respond to the SEC's Memorandum of Law in support of Motion to Strike fair notice defense, according to court documents. Additionally, Judge Torres also ordered to unseal three documents concerning the SEC vs. Ripple case, including Ripple's CEO Brad Garlinghouse's email thread and deposition notice and founder Chris Larsen's email string. Markets received Judge …
Sec / Feb. 7, 2022