Cardano (ADA), the native token used by the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain network that goes by the same name, has become the fourth-largest crypto coin on the market, reaching its highest value on cryptocurrency ranking platform CoinMarketCap.
The digital asset has now surpassed Ripple-related XRP crypto coin for the first time. The token’s market capitalization has risen to $21.7 billion.
The Anticipated ‘Mary’ Hard Fork
On February 3rd, the team behind the Cardano project successfully launched the ‘Mary’ hard fork that has changed it into a multi-asset network and propelled the blockchain one step closer to transitioning to the Goguen era.
The tokenization process is managed natively on the Cardano network without deploying smart contracts. This makes it different from the likes of Ethereum and its popular ERC-20 token standard. Besides the project’s active development, Grayscale, the renowned digital asset manager registering a few trusts for Cardano and other altcoins in late January, could be another stimulus behind the constant ADA momentum.
Cardano Leaves Bitcoin Cash in the Dust
Following another increase that took Bitcoin (BTC) to $41,000, the coin has retraced beneath the much desired $40,000 level. The crypto market capitalization attained an all-time high above $1.2 trillion but has since retraced as most altcoins have also corrected moderately.
In the meantime, Cardano is still 40 percent below its current record-high of $1.18 that was registered in January of 2018 – back that, the token peaked at a top place with a market cap of $32.4 billion. Bitcoin Cash (BCH), on the other hand, was in fourth place with a market capitalization of $43.2 billion.
ADA’s recent surge to fourth place coincided with Bitcoin Cash dropping from the top ten for the first time since its launch. The once-mighty Bitcoin fork is now placed below Stellar (XLM) and is down an astonishing 87 percent from its record-high of $3,785 it reached in December of 2017.
