Market Updates
12 months ago

XRP and PEPE Lead Markets, Bitcoin and Ethereum Flat but in Green: This Week’s Crypto Recap

George Georgiev May 19, 2023 14:47
Ripple's XRP and PEPE are stealing the center stage this week, both in their respective categories. Meanwhile, BTC, ETH, and other majors are trading almost flat.

Well, the past week had some exciting developments to offer, at least in certain segments of the market. The broader capitalization barely increased by around $5 billion, currently standing shy of $1.2 trillion. This came on the back of a relatively flat performance of major cryptocurrencies, but some altcoins managed to surprise. Let’s dive in.

It’s been a back-and-forth with Bitcoin this week. The cryptocurrency was trading at around $26,500 this time last week and managed to increase to around $27,500 a few days later. It plunged back below $27K, only to test $27,500 again on Thursday. The bears weren’t having it, though, and made another decisive swing down, putting BTC’s price where it’s currently trading at around $26,800, booking a slight increase of 1.3%.

Ethereum is also trading for a 2% increase on the weekly, followed by Cardano (ADA), MATIC, DOT, and TRX – all of which managed to book similar gains.

But that’s where things get more exciting.

Ripple’s XRP increased by around 8% in the past seven days, positioning it as the clear leader within the top 10 cryptocurrencies by means of total market cap. The reasons are probably two-fold. The judge presiding over the case against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled against the agency’s motion to seal a certain record of former director Bill Hinman. Investors perceived this as bullish for XRP as it might have a positive impact on the outcome of the case. Ripple also entered a deal to acquire Metaco – a Swiss-based crypto custodian, for $250 million.

And then there’s PEPE. The memecoin that’s taken center stage in the cryptocurrency industry is up some 17% in the past week, leading the memecoin sector by a considerable margin. There’s no telling why PEPE is up but as with anything meme-related, it could be any number of reasons. It’s very interesting to see if it will maintain its position, though.

In any case, it remains very interesting to see how the market will shape in the following days and if XRP will continue on its positive trajectory.

Market Data

Market Cap: $1,169B | 24H Vol: $34B | BTC Dominance: 44.4%

BTC: $26,829 (+1.3%) | ETH: $1,810 (+2%) | BNB: $309 (+1.1%)

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Charts

This week we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, OP, and PEPE – click here for the complete price analysis.

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Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.
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George Georgiev

Georgi Georgiev is CryptoPotato's editor-in-chief and seasoned writer with over four years of experience writing about blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Georgi's passion for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies bloomed in late 2016 and he hasn't looked back since. Crypto’s technological and economic implications are what interest him most, and he has one eye turned to the market whenever he’s not sleeping. Contact George: LinkedIn