Altcoin Market in Transition: Bitcoin Cash Gains Strength, Ripple Focuses on Institutional Infrastructure

Bitcoin Cash Returns to the Upper Ranks

Bitcoin Cash is currently attracting attention with remarkable price strength. The Bitcoin fork has overtaken Monero in the rankings and, with a market capitalization of approximately $11.72 billion, trails Cardano by only about one billion dollars ^[2]. A return to the top 10 largest cryptocurrencies is now within reach.

Historically, this would not be uncharted territory for Bitcoin Cash. After the hard fork in 2017, the network belonged to the first tier of the crypto market for several years and at times even ranked among the five largest digital currencies ^[2]. In recent years, however, Bitcoin Cash gradually lost visibility as other Layer-1 projects moved to the forefront.

Relative Strength Against Bitcoin Significantly Increased

Particularly striking is the shift in direct comparison with Bitcoin. Since February 2025, the BTC/BCH ratio has fallen by around 60 percent ^[2]. This means that Bitcoin Cash shows clear outperformance against Bitcoin during the same period. Historically, such phases of relative strength have often been the starting point for increased attention and stronger capital inflows.

The long-term perspective, however, remains nuanced: Since early 2020, Bitcoin has gained approximately 500 percent in relative strength compared to Bitcoin Cash ^[2]. The current development therefore does not represent a complete trend reversal, but rather a rotation within a broader market cycle.

Technical Analysis Shows Bullish Signals

In the last 24 hours, the Bitcoin Cash price moved between $564.20 and $598.00. The current closing price is $594.10, representing a gain of approximately 2.79 percent compared to the previous day ^[2].

The price is trading above the EMA-20, indicating bullish momentum in the short term. Key support levels are at $586.90 and $572.50, while resistance can be found at $598.00 and approximately $621.90 ^[2]. The RSI stands at around 61.20, placing it in the moderate bullish range.

Ripple President Predicts Institutional Turning Point

Monica Long, President of Ripple, looks ahead to 2026 with concrete expectations. She states that the technical and regulatory foundations created in recent years should pay off in 2026 ^[1].

Her predictions encompass four central developments: First, stablecoins are expected to become the fundamental settlement system of global finance. Ripple Labs aims to play a central role in institutional payment processing with its proprietary RLUSD and its own banking license ^[1].

Second, Long expects crypto to achieve a breakthrough with institutional players. By year-end, over one trillion dollars in digital assets should be held on corporate balance sheets, and approximately half of Fortune 500 companies should be pursuing firm digital asset strategies ^[1].

Third, the Ripple president predicts strong consolidation in the custody business for digital assets. Banks are expected to build new partnerships, and acquisitions will increase. She sees this development as a prerequisite for facilitating institutional investors' access to crypto ^[1].

Finally, she expects increasing convergence of blockchain and artificial intelligence. Automated treasury processes, AI-supported portfolio adjustments, and privacy-friendly analytics are expected to make financial markets more efficient and scalable ^[1].

XRP Plays No Explicit Role in Predictions

Notably, Monica Long does not directly address XRP. This is likely to be disappointing for investors, as while Ripple is advancing the ecosystem, it does not assign an explicit role to its own token in these future predictions ^[1]. The XRP price recently slipped below the $1.90 mark ^[1].

Across all predictions, it becomes clear that Ripple's focus is squarely on infrastructure and institutional use. Stablecoins, custody, and automation are at the center of the strategy ^[1].