Polkadot flips XRP to become 5th biggest crypto

Polkadot just surpassed XRP to become the 5th largest cryptocurrency by market value, according to research unit Messari.

This is the second rank XRP has lost in a week, after Litecoin ‘flipped’ it at the very end of 2020.

Polkadot’s marketing team pitches it as an alternative to Ethereum on which devs can deploy apps and other smart contract systems.

Proponents note Polkadot’s network fees are still just a fraction of Ethereum’s, which are again growing unmanageable during heightened demand.

[Read more: Litecoin flips XRP to become fourth largest crypto]

Polkadot’s reported market value sits at $8.5 billion, only just topping XRP’s $8.3 billion. Litecoin is in fourth with $10 billion.