The cryptocurrency market has undergone dramatic shifts over the past decade, with new innovations reshaping investor interest and market rankings. While today's landscape is dominated by Bitcoin and Ethereum—joined by major stablecoins—the top digital assets of 2017 tell a different story. Back then, during the last major bull run, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP), and Litecoin (LTC) held prominent positions in the market cap rankings. But where are they now?
This article explores the evolution of the top five digital assets from five years ago, analyzing their trajectories, technological developments, and current standings in the ever-changing crypto ecosystem.
The Dominance of Bitcoin and Ethereum
Bitcoin (BTC), launched in 2009, remains the undisputed leader of the cryptocurrency world. As the first decentralized digital currency, it laid the foundation for the entire blockchain industry. Despite numerous challengers, BTC has maintained its top position by market capitalization and continues to be viewed as digital gold—a store of value amid economic uncertainty.
Ethereum (ETH), introduced in 2015, follows closely behind. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum was designed not just as a currency but as a platform for decentralized applications (dApps), smart contracts, and programmable finance. Its ecosystem has expanded to power DeFi, NFTs, GameFi, and metaverse projects, making it a cornerstone of Web3 innovation.
In 2021, both assets reached all-time highs—BTC peaking near $69,000 and ETH surpassing $4,880—driven by institutional adoption from companies like Tesla, Square, and MicroStrategy adding them to their balance sheets.
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The Rise and Fall of Former Market Leaders
While Bitcoin and Ethereum have retained their dominance, the rest of the top five from 2017 have seen significant changes. At that time, the rankings were:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Litecoin (LTC)
Today, only BTC and ETH remain in the top two. BCH has fallen out of the top 20, LTC hovers around 23rd place, and XRP holds on at sixth—though far below its previous highs.
What Happened to Bitcoin Cash (BCH)?
Bitcoin Cash emerged in August 2017 as a hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. The split occurred due to disagreements within the Bitcoin community over scalability solutions—specifically block size limits. Developers supporting larger blocks believed the original vision of Satoshi Nakamoto as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system was being compromised.
BCH increased its block size from 1MB to 8MB (later raised further), allowing up to 25,000 transactions per block compared to Bitcoin’s ~7 per second. This made it faster and cheaper for everyday payments.
Holders of BTC at the time received an equal amount of BCH in an airdrop. Like Bitcoin, BCH has a fixed supply cap of 21 million coins and undergoes halving events every four years. The next halving is expected in April 2024, reducing the block reward from 6.25 to 3.125 BCH.
Despite early momentum, BCH struggled to gain widespread merchant adoption or developer support. Competition from more scalable layer-2 solutions on Bitcoin (like Lightning Network) and faster blockchains diminished its relevance.
As of today, BCH’s market cap sits around $3.8 billion—down sharply from its peak near $42 billion in late 2017.
The Story of Litecoin (LTC)
Created by former Google engineer Charlie Lee in 2011, Litecoin is often referred to as "digital silver" to Bitcoin’s "digital gold." Built using Bitcoin’s open-source codebase, LTC introduced key improvements: faster block generation (every 2.5 minutes vs. 10 minutes) and a different hashing algorithm (Scrypt), which initially made mining more accessible.
LTC also underwent a halving in August 2023, reducing its block reward from 12.5 to 6.25 LTC. With a total supply cap of 84 million coins, it remains one of the most established alternative cryptocurrencies.
In late 2017, just days after LTC hit its then-all-time high, Charlie Lee sold all his holdings—a move he said was to avoid conflicts of interest while promoting the project. He later joined the Litecoin Foundation as Managing Director to support its development.
While LTC did reach a new ATH of $410 in May 2021 during the last bull cycle, it failed to sustain momentum. Today, it trades around $70—down over 80% from its peak—and ranks outside the top 20 by market cap.
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Ripple (XRP) and the SEC Lawsuit
XRP is the native cryptocurrency of the XRP Ledger, an open-source blockchain developed in 2012 by Arthur Britto, Jed McCaleb, and David Schwartz. Designed for fast and low-cost international payments, XRP aimed to disrupt traditional cross-border remittance systems dominated by SWIFT.
Ripple Labs created 100 billion XRP tokens at launch, allocating about 6 billion to the founders and reserving the rest for company use and ecosystem development.
In December 2020, Ripple was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly conducting an unregistered securities offering worth $1.38 billion through XRP sales. The lawsuit caused major exchanges to delist XRP and triggered a prolonged legal battle.
Although Ripple has won several key rulings—including a partial victory in July 2023 when Judge Analisa Torres determined that XRP itself is not inherently a security—the case continues to impact investor confidence and market performance.
XRP peaked at $3.40 in January 2018 but currently trades around $0.55. Its market cap stands at approximately $28 billion—well below its 2017 level of nearly $89 billion—but it still maintains a top-10 position due to brand recognition and ongoing institutional use cases.
FAQ: Common Questions About Past Top Cryptocurrencies
Q: Why did Bitcoin Cash lose so much value since 2017?
A: Bitcoin Cash faced declining developer activity, limited real-world adoption, and increasing competition from other scalable blockchains and Bitcoin layer-2 solutions like Lightning Network.
Q: Is Litecoin still relevant today?
A: While Litecoin pioneered faster transaction processing and inspired many altcoins, its role has diminished as newer blockchains offer greater speed and functionality. However, it remains a trusted asset with a strong legacy.
Q: Can XRP recover fully from the SEC lawsuit?
A: Legal clarity has improved since court rulings favored Ripple on certain points, but full recovery depends on broader regulatory acceptance and expanded utility in global payment networks.
Q: Did any of these three—BCH, LTC, XRP—reach new highs in 2021?
A: Only Litecoin achieved a new all-time high in 2021 (~$410). Bitcoin Cash and XRP both traded well below their previous peaks despite the overall market rally.
Q: Are these older cryptocurrencies still good investments?
A: They carry lower growth potential compared to emerging projects but may serve as stable holdings within a diversified portfolio due to their established track records.
Q: What lessons can investors learn from these assets’ performance?
A: Market leadership can shift rapidly. Long-term success requires continuous innovation, strong developer support, real-world use cases, and adaptability to regulatory environments.
Final Thoughts: Can Legacy Tokens Reclaim Glory?
Five years ago, BCH, XRP, and LTC were seen as serious contenders in the crypto space. Today, they serve as cautionary tales about the importance of sustained innovation and ecosystem growth.
While Bitcoin and Ethereum evolved—with ETH transitioning to proof-of-stake and expanding into DeFi and Web3—these former leaders failed to capture new narratives or attract significant developer interest.
With thousands of new tokens entering the market each year—many offering advanced features like interoperability, AI integration, or decentralized identity—the path back to relevance is steep.
That said, legacy doesn’t disappear overnight. These assets still have communities, infrastructure, and potential use cases. But unless they undergo transformative upgrades or find compelling new applications, their positions are likely to continue eroding.
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