When Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen outstripped Mark Zuckerberg in wealth

After Bitcoin and Litecoin, it’s time for Ripple to observe the market boom. The virtual currency, which surpassed $1 for the first time two weeks ago, reached an all-time high of $3.65 Thursday.

As the price of XRP, the token that powers San Francisco startup Ripple's open-source RippleNet network, increased so does the wealth of the cofounders.

Chris Larsen, Ripple co-founder, on Thursday, outstripped Mark Zuckerberg for a brief period of time to become the world's fifth wealthiest man as the former’s wealth soared to $59 billion, according to figures from Forbes.

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The value of XRP has risen more than 100 per cent during the last week — and more than 300 per cent in the last year.

Ripple has a market capitalization of $13.08 billion. A month ago, the virtual currency’s market capitalization stood at $10.38 billion.

The similar growth has been observed in other cryptocurrencies. In the past two months, Litecoin has grown more than 400 percent, from $60 to $249. On a year-to-date basis, it has surged over 5,700 per cent till today, whereas bitcoin has gained over 1,500 per cent during the same period.

Litecoin and IOTA have market capitalizations of $13.14 billion and $10.79 billion, respectively.

There are several factors which may be contributing to the explosive growth of Ripple.

According to a Forbes article, the recent launch of Bitcoin futures trading on Cboe caused a spike in Bitcoin prices. This has caused an unprecedented growth in the world of cryptocurrency. Ripple’s behaviour tends to have a direct relationship with the rising investors’ interest in cryptocurrency, drawing hordes of newcomers to space.

Ripple is using strategic partnerships to generate buzz. It has over 75 commercially deploying customers—and over 100 currently on their roster.

The growth effect may be the result of rumors that Coinbase will soon support XRP buying, selling, and trading on its platform. The widespread assumption is that if that occurs, a whole new crop of buyers will start investing in XRP.