Following a record weekend in terms of trade volumes and record-breaking statistics, as well as overall market capitalization growth, the top 5 cryptocurrencies have shifted. These cryptocurrencies are the most popular, not only because their market caps are the biggest, but because they are becoming household names in one way or another. While the market is in constant flow, the average investor must consider the fast-paced volatility, not only in price but the rapidly shifting market cap rankings.

The Sudden and Slightly Expected Rise of Bitcoin Cash

The first one of these cryptocurrencies to grab the headlines over a weekend that saw record trading volumes, is Bitcoin Cash. With its price now dropping to the $1,000 USD mark, Bitcoin Cash took the markets by storm a week ago, establishing itself as a potential perennial contender for a top 5 spot in the cryptocurrency sphere. As of November 9th, Bitcoin Cash had an already impressive total market capitalization of just over $10.5bn USD. By the end of November 12th, Bitcoin Cash continued to rise, reaching a price of over $1,500 USD, giving it a total market cap of over $25bn.

Many doubters including a few enthusiasts thought this was it. Nevertheless, Bitcoin Cash soared all the way up to $2,448 USD with a market capitalization of over $41bn. This was an astonishing four-fold increase in market capitalization in space of fewer than 3 days.

Bitcoin Lost Momentum as Segwit2x was Cancelled and Came Back

As Bitcoin Cash gained momentum, Bitcoin lost it. BTC experienced a slow and steady gain in market cap adding $15bn USD before the price took a $900 USD hit in the space of 3 days. Bitcoin proceeded to hit a November all-time low, almost slipping under $5,500 USD on November 13th. Coming as a surprise to many, Bitcoin danced around the $6,000 USD mark but has now snapped out of the bear market. Its price is now close to establishing new all-time highs. Overall, the lowest market capitalization of Bitcoin over the last week was $93bn USD, climbing back to over $129bn USD just today.

Ethereum Gains

There is no way of measuring the kind of impact that influencers have on the markets when they Tweet, but during the weekend, we saw Vitalik Buterin and Roger Ver exchanging compliments. Some might say that the price of Ether rose as a result. After an intense week of movement across the board, Ether gained just over 10% in value, resulting in a market cap of over $30bn USD. Considering the drama surrounding the Ethereum hard fork, the second most popular cryptocurrency worldwide seems to be out of the so-called “bubble”. Over the weekend, Bitcoin Cash briefly overtook Ether as the second biggest coin by market cap, but Ether slowly regained its number 2 position after markets stabilized.

Ripple and Litecoin Remain on a More Moderate Growth Path

Following an impressive 45% increase in Trading volumes on one of the largest exchanges of South Korea, Ripple has attracted some serious attention amidst the hard forks and mixed messages the markets got from other cryptocurrencies. Ripple reached the $8.5bn USD market capitalization mark around November 9th, experiencing a steady decline to under $8bn USD 3 days later. Just like Bitcoin, Ripple took a sudden hit, plunging to $7.5bn USD on November 12th just before recovering $300m USD going into the next day. Unlike the three previous cryptocurrencies, Ripple has not received anywhere near as much mainstream media coverage in the past few weeks. However, price trends as well as market capitalization can act as an almost obvious indication of the direction Ripple is heading to.

Litecoin has been solid eyeing that $4bn USD market capitalization, along with a price of $63 USD per unit at press time. Over the past week especially around November 10th, LTC experienced high volatility, although this was not surprising. While falling to a low of $57 USD last week, Litecoin is on a healthy recovery, looking to reach the $65 USD Mark, acting as support on the road to $70. From November 13th, Litecoin has sustained slow growth, settling just below the $3.5bn USD mark in total market value.