Bitcoin has been making the headlines this year, but Ethereum and XRP have outperformed the leading cryptocurrency year-to-date
Bitcoin remains the main point of attraction in the cryptocurrency market, and rightly so. It is the first and still the leading cryptocurrency in terms of adoption and market cap. Investors globally pay more attention to Bitcoin than any other cryptocurrency.
Recently, Bitcoin set a new all-time high after three years in a bear cycle. It reached the $19,900 mark, and it is currently trading above $19,200 per coin. Bitcoin’s new all-time high means that its price is up by over 150% so far this year.
This is an impressive return on investment. However, its close competitors have outperformed it so far this year. According to a post by Forbes, Ether (ETH) and XRP have outperformed Bitcoin year-to-date.
Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is currently up by nearly 300% over the last 12 months. Ether has been boosted by the emergence of the Decentralised Finance (DeFi) market and the pending migration to the proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol by the network.
Most analysts believe that Ethereum still has a long way to go from its current $600 price. The major consensus amongst experts is that ETH could reach its all-time high price of $1,500 over the coming months.
XRP has maintained its place as the third-largest crypto by market cap despite the tough competition from Tether (USDT). The third-largest crypto is currently up by more than 165% over the course of the year, with most of XRP’s gains coming in November.
The upcoming XRP airdrop could push the price higher in the coming weeks, and it could finally reach $1 per coin after underperforming for the past three years. Already, Binance, Coinbase and other leading cryptocurrency exchanges have declared support for the XRP airdrop.
Altcoins outperform Bitcoin
Ethereum and XRP aren’t the only altcoins to outperform Bitcoin so far this year. Chainlink (LINK) has added an astonishing 500% so far this year. The blockchain network has gained wide usage in the DeFi sector and as a link-up data source. Chainlink is also widely used by APIs and payment systems globally.
Cardano (ADA) and Stellar Lumens (XLM) are two other top-twenty cryptocurrencies that have outperformed Bitcoin. They added 300% and 200% respectively this year. The general crypto market has enjoyed 2020 despite the economic uncertainties caused by the pandemic. It would be interesting to see the price direction of the leading cryptocurrencies in the remaining weeks of 2020.