Lido Staked Ether surpassed XRP to become the 6th largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of over $31 billion.
The bullish market for Lido Staked Ether (stETH) is largely due to Ethereum’s significant gains this month. That’s because the second-largest cryptocurrency reached $3,200 today, with the token price soaring 40% in February alone.
Lido’s Ether deposits are close to 10 million ETH, with no net outflows from the protocol since December 19, according to Dune analytics data. Lido Staked Ether currently accounts for 35% of all EH deposits on EigenLayer, one of the leading platforms providing access to Ethereum staked capital.
Lido Staked Ether represents a tokenized version of Ethereum staked on the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain, facilitated by the Lido decentralized finance (defi) protocol. Lido allows users to stake Ethereum without having to lock up their assets or maintain a staking infrastructure, solving some of the key limitations associated with the Ethereum 2.0 staking mechanism.
At the same time, XRP is underperforming the market rally, down nearly 2.5% in a week. Despite Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana posting notable gains today, the price of XRP rose only 0.5%.
XRP traders are showing some cautious sentiment in the market as the ongoing battle with the SEC is not over yet. If the ruling is in the SEC’s favor, XRP could end up paying $2.64 billion. punishment2024 will be the most profitable fiscal year for commissions.
Despite XRP’s disappointing performance this year, whales have invested $40 million in XRP over the past 10 days. This could signal the possibility of buying dips in altcoins, which could eventually push XRP above the March $0.58 resistance level.