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But Bitcoin isn't the only cryptocurrency significantly on the rise today. The altcoin XRP is also up today—more than 13% over the past 24 hours as of the time of this writing. Here's a possible reason why.
In the world of cryptocurrency, you have one king, Bitcoin. Keeping in line with the nobility nomenclature, the title of prince belongs to Ethereum, the second-largest crypto by market cap. The title of duke, then, would go to XRP, the third-largest crypto by market cap.
All Bitcoins in the world currently have a market cap of about $2.3 trillion, while Ethereum sits at about $361 billion, and XRP hovers around $161 billion.
XRP, then, is one of the bigger so-called altcoins on the market. According to Yahoo Finance data, the current price of XRP (XRP–USD) is right around $2.76 per token.
One of the largest holders of XRP is Ripple Labs Inc., a company that offers digital cross-border payment solutions like the decentralized RippleNet.
Over the past 24 hours, XRP has seen a significant increase. As of the time of this writing, the coin is trading at around $2.7636 apiece. That's a more than 13% gain in the last day.
But why is XRP surging? Any rise or fall in any crypto is usually linked to more than one reason, but over the past few days, investors seem to be more bullish on XRP—and perhaps thanks in part to a specific event.
As noted by The Coin Telegraph, on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hosted a hearing called 'From Wall Street to Web3: Building Tomorrow's Digital Asset Markets.'
The event covered a number of topics, as noted by Bitcoin Magazine, including the regulatory environment surrounding crypto.
One of the witnesses at the event was Ripple Labs' CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Since that event, XRP has steadily increased. Garlinghouse's presence at the event seems to suggest to some investors that Ripple may have a growing involvement with policymakers in Washington. If so, it may help boost the appeal of XRP, which Ripple owns a lot of.
Of course, whether Ripple Labs actually has an increasing involvement with policymakers in D.C. remains to be seen—and even if they do, it doesn't mean XRP is guaranteed any kind of upward trajectory.
Still, over the past five days, XRP has surged 20%.
While XRP's five-day jump of 20% seems impressive, it's nothing compared to what the coin has done over the past 12 months.
Since last July, XRP has surged a staggering 507%, according to data from Yahoo Finance.
That's an astounding return compared to its peers. Bitcoin, for example, is up just over 105% in the same period, and Ethereum is down just over 3%.
This post originally appeared at fastcompany.comSubscribe to get the Fast Company newsletter: http://fastcompany.com/newsletters
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