NEM’s market cap has passed $2 bln as the altcoin’s exponential growth spurt continues to surprise.

Already at $2.4 bln as of press time Friday, NEM’s XEM token has seen such rapid increases in value that it is now the third-largest altcoin.

By way of comparison, XEM’s market cap last week was just over $1 bln, while on April 19 it stood at $300 mln.

Price growth data from Coincap.io demonstrates the monumental rate of change for XEM, which has increased more sharply than even Ethereum and Dash, commonly considered to be the major success stories of 2017 on altcoin markets.

Motivation for NEM’s sudden reversal of fortunes is hard to ascertain. Publicity and community debate is focusing on the future introduction of Catapult, a permissioned Blockchain product touted by developers as unique on the market.

The 24 hours to Friday has seen broad success among altcoin assets meanwhile, only Ripple bucking the upward trend to lose 8.5 percent.

Its own rise, which saw it overtake Ethereum by market cap earlier this week, has been tempered by widespread criticism from cryptocurrency commentators regarding its lack of decentralization.