Ripple Cryptocurrency Now has a Larger Market Cap than Bitcoin

Many investors and traders believe that if there is one winner in the cryptocurrency race, it will be Bitcoin. One of the main reasons for that belief is that it has maintained the largest market capitalization.

The market cap, at least for cryptos, is the total number of coins times the current price. However, the key is “total number of coins”. Most sites reference the market cap based on Circulating Supply (the “float” in stock market terms), and in that case, Bitcoin would be at the top.

However, if you base it on the Supply Limit, which is the total number of coins possible, Ripple would be at the top with a market cap of $328 billion, based on the prices displayed at the time this article is written. Bitcoin would be $321 billion.

See the chart below for more detail:

Crypto Market Caps
Market Caps based on Supply Limits as Opposed to Circulating Limits
Coin Supply Limit Price Market Cap
Ripple 100,000,000,000 $3.28 $328,000,000,000
Bitcoin 21,000,000 $15,289 $321,069,000,000
Ethereum* 103,862,556 $962 $99,915,778,872
Stellar Lumen 103,570,548,975 $0.86 $89,535,911,024
Bitcoin Cash 21,000,000 $2,595 $54,494,580,000
Cardano 45,000,000,000 $1.04 $46,800,000,000
Litecoin 84,000,000 $244.16 $20,509,440,000
*Estimated supply limit. No set block limit.
Source: Based on prices at coinmarketcap.com on 1/3/17 at 5:10 pm PT