XRP Reclaims Third Position in Global Crypto Ranking as Ripple CTO Hits 12 Years at Ripple

Ripple CTO David Schwartz celebrates his 12th anniversary at Ripple, highlighting how the remarkable event coincides with XRP reclaiming its position as the third-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap. 

Schwartz revealed the development yesterday, confirming that he has worked at Ripple for 12 years.

I just officially hit 12 years at Ripple just as XRP moves into the number three position by market cap. Coincidence?

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 1, 2024

Schwartz 12th Anniversary at Ripple Coincides with XRP Milestone

Based on his commentary, Schwartz officially joined Ripple on December 1, 2012, with current Chairman Chris Larsen subsequently adding him to the company’s board. He was among the early developers at Ripple who helped shape the company’s technical vision. 

Ripple’s decentralized blockchain platform, XRP Ledger (XRPL), is one of Schwartz’s brainchild projects, which he developed alongside Arthur Britto and Jed McCaleb. Notably, Schwartz later became the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Ripple after McCaleb left the position. 

Since then, Schwartz has spearheaded Ripple’s technological vision, contribution to the development of several cross-border payment solutions like Ripple Payments (formerly ODL). 

While celebrating his 12th anniversary at Ripple, he indicated that the event coincides with XRP reclaiming its position as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. 

XRP Reclaims Third Position in Global Crypto Ranking  

XRP’s spectacular performance after the U.S. election has turned heads within the crypto market. The XRPL native token, which hovered around $0.50 on U.S. election day, November 5, surged to $2.49 in the early hours of today, representing an increase of 398%. 

This remarkable rally saw XRP overtake Solana (SOL) and Tether (USDT) to become the third-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap. It bears mentioning this position was where XRP ranked before the U.S. SEC introduced its lawsuit against Ripple. 

Ethereum and XRP Contest 

Before the lawsuit, XRP was in a close contest with Ethereum (ETH) for second place. However, the infamous speech issued by former SEC official William Hinman in 2018 gave ETH.

Prior to the speech, XRP was the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap behind Bitcoin. Hinman’s controversial speech, suggesting that only Bitcoin and Ethereum are non-securities due to their sufficiently decentralized nature, contributed to ETH’s market cap overtaking XRP. 

Ethereum cemented its position as the second-biggest cryptocurrency in December 2020 when the SEC officially sued Ripple. 

At the time, XRP’s price plunged to $0.17 from $0.50, erasing $15 billion from its market cap, according to FOX Business journalist Eleanor Terrett. Consequently, XRP fell to the seventh position for several years. 

Amid speculations that the Ripple lawsuit might be resolved under the forthcoming Donald Trump administration, XRP embarked on a jaw-dropping rally, with its price surging by over 300% in one month. For context, Ethereum remains the second-biggest cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $442.58 billion.

In the meantime, XRP is trading at $2.46 per token, with its market cap at $140.45 billion. Currently, XRP is up 31.31% in the past 24 hours, 67.81% over the last week, and 379.24% in one month.