The crypto exchanges that use usdprice of XRP increased by over 1.6% in the last 24 hours to trade at $2.42. It has now overtaken Tether’s USDT to secure the third spot in the crypto rankings by market capitalization.

XRP beats USDT in market cap

According to CoinMarketCap, XRP has increased by 10.6% in the past week, with market capitalization pegged at $138.26 billion. A favorable market outlook and increased whale activity have contributed to the XRP price surge.

As a result of XRP’s recent surge, USDT now ranks as the fourth-largest crypto with a market capitalization of $137 billion. Similar to XRP, USDT has risen higher since the past week; however, its gains have been smaller. USDT experienced daily and weekly spikes of 0.06% and 0.04%, respectively.

This flip may not be permanent as the volatility in the market skews on either side of the coin in the long term. Notably, USDT is facing intense fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) from the market amid the implementing of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation.

The stablecoin issuer did not comply with the new rules, making it face delisting on top exchanges like Coinbase operating in the region.

XRP takes advantage

Amid all these, the XRP ecosystem has taken advantage, riding on key events within the ecosystem. First, the XRP ETF hype grew remarkably toward the end of the fourth quarter as top asset managers, including WisdomTree, filed for the product with the U.S. SEC.

Ripple Labs also launched the RLUSD stablecoin last month, hoping to pose serious competition with USDT and USDC. These sentiments are helping to uplift XRP overall, as showcased in the price boom for the rest of the fourth quarter.

The coin reclaiming the third spot might be the beginning, with bigger price forecasts ahead.