BNB flips XRP after market cap hits $181 billion – Can XRP recover its position?

Key Takeaways

Why did BNB flip XRP in market cap?

BNB’s rally to a new all-time high of $1,304 was powered by surging activity on BNB Chain.

Can XRP stage a comeback?

XRP will need a breakout above $3.50 and stronger inflows into Ripple’s payment corridors to challenge BNB again.

Binance Coin [BNB] has overtaken XRP to become the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, after Bitcoin and Ethereum. The flip marks BNB’s first time above XRP since early 2022, cementing its position as one of the top-performing large-cap assets this quarter.

Source: CoinMarketCap

At the time of writing, BNB was trading at around $1,304 – Up nearly 30% over the past week. On the contrary, XRP seemed to be lagging at $2.91 with 7-day gains of just 2.7%.

Its latest rally has pushed BNB’s market cap to $181.5 billion, ahead of XRP’s $174.6 billion.

Why is BNB surging?

A combination of strong on-chain fundamentals and ecosystem tailwinds has been driving BNB’s breakout. Most notably, the explosive rise of Aster, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the BNB Chain.

Aster’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has risen by over 500% in recent weeks, with the same climbing to $2.4 billion, according to DefiLlama data. The DEX’s liquidity mining campaigns and trading incentives have spurred a surge in transactions and gas burns – Both of which reduce token supply and support price appreciation.

BNB Chain also logged a record 58 million active addresses in September, surpassing Solana and other Layer-1s.

Additionally, technical data revealed that sentiment among Binance Coin holders has risen sharply, reaching 53.4 on TradingView’s 50-period Sentiment Index. This might be indicative of growing confidence and accumulation.

BNB’s daily chart seemed to display clear bullish momentum too, with rising volumes and higher highs confirming trend strength.

Source:TradingView

The Aster connection

BNB’s surge has been closely tied to Aster’s growth narrative. Binance recently listed ASTER with a Seed Tag, amplifying exposure and speculation across the ecosystem.

While Aster’s rapid rise is fueling optimism around BNB’s DeFi traction, some analytics platforms, including DeFiLlama, have flagged possible irregularities in its reported activity. Still, the DEX’s performance has reinforced the perception of BNB Chain as a thriving hub for decentralized finance.

XRP loses ground

For its part, XRP has struggled to maintain momentum, despite broader market gains. In fact, Holders’ Sentiment was negative (-4.8) at press time, with its price chart showing consolidation below the $3-level.

Source: TradingView

Ripple Labs’ push for real-world use cases is yet to translate into significant price action for the altcoin.

XRP’s 24-hour trading volume has been subdued too, compared to BNB’s – A sign that traders are rotating capital towards higher-growth ecosystems.

Can XRP reclaim third place?

XRP could still retake its position if new institutional partnerships or regulatory breakthroughs reignite investor confidence. According to AMBCrypto’s analysis, a break above $3.50 would be crucial in restoring bullish momentum.

However, unless BNB notes a short-term correction, potentially triggered by overheated sentiment or DeFi volatility, XRP’s road back to the number three spot may prove difficult.