Monero Shattering The Glass Ceiling

2017 started with a cryptocurrency boom. Every altcoin was making enormous gains until this week when markets retreated. Despite the market correction and the focus on bitcoin markets, the real story to follow so far this year is Monero. This cryptocurrency surpassed its previous historic high, a feat that even bitcoin couldn’t complete. Monero is currently holding above its September 6^th, 2016 peak, and it also succeeded in holding above Litecoin in terms of market cap. That is the glass ceiling that few other currencies have been able to crack.

Monero Stays Above Litecoin

Only Ripple and Ether have been able to shatter that Litecoin glass ceiling before, and sustain themselves above that line. Now Monero seems to be the third cryptocurrency poised to complete this feat. In all fairness, Monero also surpassed Litecoin because the latter took a big hit after the recent boom cycle. Nevertheless, during that boom cycle that ended on Thursday January 5^th, 2017, Monero even surpassed Ripple to position itself in the number 3 spot in terms of market cap. That in itself shows the potential that this cryptocurrency has.

Litecoin All Time Chart — This all-time Litecoin chart shows how far off it is from its historic high. Courtesy of coinmarketcap.com.

Monero All Time Chart — Compared to the Litecoin chart above, Monero shows a completely different trend. If it sustains the trend, it will remain above Litecoin in terms of market cap. Courtesy of coinmarketcap.com.

Monero Shatters Boom-Bust-Smaller Boom Glass Ceiling

Beyond Monero’s market cap coup, it also managed to break a pattern that none of the other top 5 cryptocurrencies have been able to break so far. Cryptocurrencies so far followed a boom-bust-smaller boom cycle. They rose to a peak, then crashed and subsequently rose again but they haven’t made it back to historic highs yet. Ether, Litecoin and even bitcoin have followed this pattern. Bitcoin came within a hair of its all-time high in the most recent boom, but failed to reach it and surpass it. Monero is the only one of the top 5 cryptocurrencies by market cap that shattered that boom-bust-smaller boom glass ceiling.

Ether All Time Chart — This all-time Ether chart illustrates the boom-bust-smaller boom trend. The chart above shows how Monero managed to break it during the most recent boom. Courtesy coinmarketcap.com.

Bitccoin All Time Chart — Bitcoin came very close to breaking the boom-bust-smaller boom trend with a new all time high, but it didn’t manage to surpass the previous one. Courtesy coinmarketcap.com.

Final Thoughts

None of this means that Monero will necessarily stay above its previous highs, or that it will even climb beyond them, but it is the only one bucking the trend at the top. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all this cryptocurrency offers a whole host of advantages that its top 5 peers do not. This is why Monero enthusiasm is justified. This cryptocurrency has a good chance to keep on surprising and shattering more glass ceilings.