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XRP has given up its position as the 3rd largest cryptocurrency to Tether. A decline that the asset owes to its withdrawal by a growing number of crypto players, including Bittrex, Grayscale and Genesis.
The status of 3rd cryptocurrency in capitalization was a major argument for its issuer, Ripple. However, the company, in trouble with the SEC, had to give that status up in December. XRP now ranks behind the USDT.
However, the token could very soon fall back to 5th place, behind Litecoin (LTC). On December 29th, the token also made XRP the 4th largest cryptocurrency in the world.
It is the counter-performance of XRP that justifies this decline in the hierarchy of crypto-actives. Although Ripple’s token has since returned to 4th place, its situation has not improved. Despite calls from the company to give them some time to fight these accusations, other exchanges continue to suspend trading.
“The SEC has introduced more uncertainty into the market, actively harming the community it is supposed to protect. It is therefore not surprising that some market players are reacting conservatively,” the firm comments.
Nevertheless, other big names in the crypto industry are now adding to the list of companies suspending XRP. On the 29th, Bittrex announced the withdrawal of the BTC/XRP, ETH/XRP, USDT/XRP and USD/XRP pairs. This will take place on January 15.
On the same date, the digital currency broker Genesis will terminate the exchange and loans of XRP. Customers have until that date to sell XRP “as long as there is sufficient liquidity”.
After that, transactions and deposits will no longer be possible, Genesis warns. However, withdrawals will still be allowed. As far as Grayscale is concerned, the token is in free fall. No total liquidation at this stage, however.
According to the Bybt platform, Grayscale’s holdings in XRP melted from 26.45 million to only 9.18 million on December 29. The asset manager is also reducing its exposure to Stellar Lumens (XLM).
As a result, it would now hold only 9.19 million tokens, compared to double the previous figure. These changes in its portfolio only increase the share of Bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies account for 87% of Grayscale’s total assets under management ($19.26 billion).