Ethereum’s Market Cap Surpasses XRP as Lido Staked Ether Soars while Reaching $3.2k
Lido Staked Ether has surged past XRP to claim the sixth position among the largest cryptocurrencies, boasting a market capitalization exceeding $31 billion.
The remarkable market performance of Lido Staked Ether’s (stETH) can be largely attributed to Ethereum’s impressive gains this month. As the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum has reached $3,200 today, contributing to a 40% surge in the value of stETH in February alone.
According to data from Dune analytics, the amount of Ether deposits on Lido is approaching 10 million ETH. Since December 19th, there have been no net outflows from the protocol. Currently, Lido Staked Ether accounts for 35% of all Ethereum deposits on EigenLayer, a leading platform that offers access to Ethereum staked capital.
Lido Staked Ether represents a tokenized version of staked Ethereum on the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain. This is made possible through the Lido decentralized finance (defi) protocol. Lido provides users with the ability to stake their Ethereum without locking their assets or managing staking infrastructure. This addresses some of the main limitations associated with the Ethereum 2.0 staking mechanism.
Meanwhile, XRP is not performing as well in the market rally, experiencing a decrease of nearly 2.5% in the past week. Despite notable gains for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, XRP has only seen a 0.5% increase in price.
XRP traders are displaying cautious sentiment due to the ongoing legal battle with the SEC. The outcome of this case could result in XRP paying $2.64 billion in penalties, potentially making 2024 the most profitable year for the commission.
Despite XRP’s underwhelming performance this year, whales have invested $40 million in the altcoin over the past 10 days. This suggests a potential buying opportunity for the dip, which may eventually push XRP to break its resistance level at $0.58 in March.
