Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) may have rebounded slightly overnight, but Ripple (XRP) hasn't been able to follow suit.
According to Coin Market Cap, the XRP price is down 2% over the last 24 hours to US$1.35. This gives the third-largest cryptocurrency a market capitalisation of US$52.3 billion.
What happened?
Cryptocurrency traders don't appear to have responded positively to news that Ripple Labs, the payments company behind XRP, sold a substantial amount of the cryptocurrency during the last quarter.
According to CNBC, Ripple Labs sold US$91.6 million worth of XRP in the fourth-quarter, taking advantage of last year's incredible 29,631% surge in its price. The company does, however, still hold around 60% of the XRP in existence.
This sale seems to have offset positive news that payment companies IDT Corporation and Mercury FX will begin using its xRapid product to settle certain transactions.
The XRP-powered product aims to enhance cross-border payments for emerging markets and is currently being tested by money transfer giant MoneyGram.
What next?
I think the IDT Corporation and Mercury FX development is a big positive for Ripple Labs and demonstrates how XRP can be used successfully in the industry, unlike rival bitcoin.
Of the cryptocurrencies in existence today, I think Ripple's XRP is up there with Stella Lumens (XLM) as having the most potential.
Interestingly, XLM was the best performing major cryptocurrency overnight, rising a massive 15% to 57.4 cents. This meant that the increasingly popular cryptocurrency overtook litecoin (LTC) to become the world's sixth-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalisation of US$10.2 billion.
This gain is likely to be attributable to payment company Stripe advising that it was looking into offering support for XLM after announcing plans to cease accepting bitcoin payments through its network within the next three months. This could make XLM one to watch.
