The cryptocurrency market is full of opportunities and asymmetries in value that keen observers can benefit from. In that regard, market capitalization is a powerful benchmark to track against competing projects for fundamental analysis.
In particular, the currently $3 billion Monero (XMR) stands out with strong fundamentals, suggesting an undervalued capitalization. Monero is one of the heavyweights that is slowly gaining some of Bitcoin’s market share among cryptocurrencies.
This project possesses most of Bitcoin’s vaunted strengths and benefits from more efficient transactions, an improved PoW system that is resistant to ASIC centralization, and a secure network by default. has been tested in practice.
At the time of writing, Monero trades at $166 with a market cap of $3 billion, reaching a rank of 34 on Coingecko. The capitalization increase from 3 billion USD to 15 billion USD will push the price up 5 times to 826 USD, creating new highs. Interestingly, this move represents exactly 1% of Bitcoin’s $1.2 trillion capitalization.
Source: TradingView
Monero is a cryptocurrency that offers privacy by default for peer-to-peer transfers, often praised by the grassroots community and long-time Bitcoin advocates. Monero’s privacy features such as ring signatures, anonymous addresses, and confidential transactions make it difficult to trace transactions and identify the parties involved. This contrasts with Bitcoin (BTC), where transactions are pseudonymous rather than completely anonymous.
For example, in September 2020, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigation division (IRS-CI) offered a $625,000 bounty to contractors who could develop tools to help track Monero. This bounty has not yet been awarded to anyone, indicating that the tool is not yet developed.
Recently, Peter Thiel, a longtime Bitcoin advocate, billionaire, and co-founder of PayPal, questioned the current state of BTC based on the platform’s vision that interests him. Thiel mentioned the ideals of cypherpunk, crypto-anarchy, libertarianism, and “anti-centralized government” as core to Bitcoin’s value proposition.
Peter Thiel’s comments highlight his concerns that Bitcoin may deviate from its original ideology of decentralization, opposing centralized governments. He questions whether Bitcoin can still live up to its early promise in the face of increased government scrutiny and surveillance capabilities. In contrast, Monero’s focus on token security is closer to the cypherpunk ideology of anonymity and resistance to centralized control.
In markets such as darknet markets and clearnet platforms, Monero has attracted interest due to its privacy features, appealing to users seeking anonymity in their transactions. This choice shows Monero’s appeal to those who prioritize security and decentralization in their use of cryptocurrency.
Here’s a breakdown of usage (by $ volume) on Coincards by percentage in May ’24: #USDC: 33.21%#BTC (Onchain): 30.04%#XMR: 27.58%#LTC: 4.28%#ETH: 1.82%#Dogecoin: 1.63%#LightningNetwork: 1.16%#USDT: 0.19%#Solana: 0.09%#Dash: 0%#Matic: 0%#Tough: 0% https://t.co/MuObY7CPfK
— Coincards.com – Buy Gift Cards with Bitcoin! (@CoinCards) June 3, 2024
The battle for privacy and Monero’s resilience
Notably, leading governments around the world have declared war on financial privacy and more specifically Monero through arbitrary law enforcement.
The European Union, in particular, has banned anonymous payments. Meanwhile, the United States and the Netherlands have led enforcement actions against open-source developers, raising concerns even from prominent cryptocurrency critics.
This scenario has given Monero a significant boost, attracting more supporters to the cause and raising its awareness. Suddenly, XMR has become the most popular cryptocurrency among enthusiasts.
Despite being delisted from major cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and OKX, XMR trading has skyrocketed on decentralized exchanges like Haveno. Buyers have been paying high premiums to buy Monero on these “street” markets, demonstrating demand for the coin.
In short, XMR has a bright future ahead in the cypherpunk community and other grassroots cryptocurrency communities that once supported Bitcoin.
In a positive scenario of strong adoption and demand, Monero’s price could surge as it heads towards a $15 billion market cap, potentially ranking among the most valuable cryptocurrencies. However, XMR must overcome the associated challenges for this hypothetical rally, including liquidity issues and regulatory hurdles.
You can see the Monero price here.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Investors should do their own research before making any investment decisions. We are not responsible for your investment decisions.
Itadori
According to Finbold
