TL:DR;

• The crypto market experienced a severe downturn in the past week or so, with many altcoins registering double-digit declines over that period.
• The difference between XRP and ETH is narrower now, but that’s mostly because of the latter’s failure during this bull cycle.

Smaller Difference

CryptoPotato asked the same question the popular AI chatbot two months ago when XRP’s market capitalization stood at $140 billion as the asset fought USDT for the third spot, while ETH’s was $480 billion, with a price tag of roughly $4,000.

A lot changed in the following months. XRP’s run continued with a massive surge to $3.39 in mid-January, which actually matched the 2018 all-time high of $3.4 (on CoinGecko), but the asset failed to break it. The subsequent rejection and market-wide retracements have pushed Ripple’s cross-border token down to $2.4 at press time, with a market cap of $139 billion – which is essentially the same as the previous article.

ETH’s performance, though, has been quite underwhelming. The biggest altcoin peaked at just over $4,000 on a couple of occasions in December but failed to maintain its run, let alone go toward its all-time high of $4,880. The most recent corrections hit it hard, with its price tumbling to $2,200 on Monday morning. Although it now sits above $2,600, ETH’s market cap has plunged hard since the first article and is down to $315 billion.

This puts the difference between the two at a more modest $175 billion, which is a lot less than the $340 billion in early December. However, most of that is due to ETH’s crash rather than XRP actually charting permanent gains.

What About Now?

Back then, ChatGPT listed several factors that could propel XRP toward the second spot – market conditions, which have worsened since then, especially for ETH; regulatory clarity – still pending during the new US administration; tech developments – Ethereum is close to a big upgrade called Pectra, as well as broader crypto trends – somewhat vague.

During its most recent response, the AI chatbot highlighted the regulatory clarity once again. It asserted that the resolution of the ongoing SEC v. Ripple lawsuit is essential to XRP’s price movements. A favorable outcome for the company, which is highly possible now, given the pro-crypto administration, could skyrocket the token’s price and vice-versa. In fact, ChatGPT believes there won’t be a big run for XRP until there’s clarity in that lawsuit.

Another factor that could help XRP on its way up is the potential involvement of Ripple’s CEO (or other execs) in the crypto regulatory groups within the US.

In terms of institutional adoption, ChatGPT gave the lead to ETH, which has a fair share of exchange-traded funds. The products saw the light of day in the middle of 2024 and have enjoyed a reasonable demand for the past few months. However, XRP could be next in line for an ETF, and that could bring more gains for the underlying asset.

Lastly, the AI project outlined a significant difference between the two blockchains in regard to speed and fees, which is a point for XRP.

• Ripple: ~3-5 seconds per transaction, negligible fees.
• Ethereum: Slower, gas fees remain an issue despite upgrades.

ChatGPT concluded that while Ripple and its token have some advantages over Ethereum and ETH, such as payment speed and certain financial partnerships, the possibility of the former surpassing the latter is “unlikely,” unless “Ethereum stumbles” even more.

Bitcoin’s price struggles continue as the asset was violently rejected at $100,000 yesterday and pushed south by over four grand in hours.

Nevertheless, many altcoins are in even worse condition, with massive double-digit losses on a weekly scale.

BTC Up and Down

It was a painful week for the primary cryptocurrency, which started during the previous weekend with a price slump from $102,000 to $97,000 on Sunday morning after Trump’s tariffs against China, Mexico, and Canada. The situation worsened on Monday morning with another nosedive to under $92,000.

However, the cryptocurrency exploded out of the blue at this point and added ten grand within hours to spike above $102,000. That was short-lived, though, as it quickly lost the six-digit price tag and headed toward $97,000.

After a few days of sideways action around that line, BTC jumped to just over $100,000 on Friday. Yet, the bears were quick to intercept the move and didn’t allow a further increase. Moreover, the rejection was quite brutal as it pushed bitcoin south to under $96,000.

The asset now struggles to reclaim that level, and its market capitalization is close to breaking below $1.9 trillion. Its dominance over the alts, though, is quite high (close to 59% on CG), as most of them have been hit harder.

Alts Back in Red

The alternative coins suffered even more than BTC, and many continue to be well in the red. Ethereum has dumped by 4% over the past day alone and struggles to remain above $2,600. Chainlink, SUI, AVAX, ADA, and XMR are the other substantial price losers from the larger-cap alts, with declines of up to 7%.

DOGE, BNB, SOL, and HBAR are also in the red, albeit in a less painful manner. XRP and TRX are among the few alts with minor gains over the past day.

Nevertheless, the total crypto market cap has shed another $80 billion since yesterday and is down to $3.250 trillion on CG.

Coinbase stands as the largest publicly traded blockchain company, with a market cap of $71.2 billion as of February 8, 2025. This figure places it far ahead of its closest competitor, Galaxy Digital, which holds a market cap of just $6.7 billion – making Coinbase more than ten times larger.

Furthermore, the exchange’s valuation has also surpassed the combined total of the next nine largest blockchain firms, which collectively amount to $33.2 billion, according to CoinGecko’s latest report.

Coinbase Leads Public Blockchain Firms

While the blockchain industry covers various sectors, cryptocurrency mining remains the most prevalent, with 25 out of the 46 largest publicly traded firms engaged in mining operations. However, following Bitcoin’s fourth halving, which reduced block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, a growing trend of diversification has emerged.

Many mining firms, leveraging their expertise in infrastructure and high-performance computing, are expanding into AI and Web3 solutions. Notable players such as Core Scientific, Hut 8 Mining, TeraWulf, HIVE Digital Technologies, and CleanSpark are pivoting toward AI-driven data centers and cloud computing.

Despite the dominance of mining firms in sheer numbers, the blockchain sector’s overall market capitalization remains concentrated in a handful of major players, with Coinbase maintaining a lead.

Among the 46 publicly traded blockchain firms, Coinbase (COIN) is the sole representative of the exchange sector, accounting for just 2.2% of the total. However, its market capitalization significantly outpaces that of most other blockchain companies, with the exception of business intelligence company MicroStrategy (MSTR), which has an even larger valuation of $97.7 billion.

Notably, MicroStrategy follows a unique approach, leveraging debt to acquire Bitcoin and capitalize on its price fluctuations. When Michael Saylor-led company is removed from the equation, the remaining blockchain firms have a combined market cap of $121.9 billion, with Coinbase making up a dominant 63.6% of that value.

Public Blockchain Companies Hold Tiny Stake

The cryptocurrency mining sector, on the other hand, has a total market capitalization of $31.7 billion, largely driven by leading firms such as Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) at $7.0 billion, Core Scientific (CORZ) at $4.2 billion, Riot Platforms (RIOT) at $4.7 billion, and CleanSpark (CLSK) at $3.4 billion, while other miners remain under $3 billion.

Meanwhile, the finance and investment sector, which is worth around $7.1 billion, is heavily concentrated in Galaxy Digital, which holds $6.7 billion.

Altogether, publicly traded blockchain companies have a total market cap of $199.5 billion, which accounts for just 5.8% of the overall $3.45 trillion cryptocurrency market capitalization.