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Bitcoin makes up nearly half of the $100 billion cryptocurrency market cap. What’s the rest?

Cryptocurrencies recently hit a new milestone: $100 billion in combined market capitalization.
The break above the 12-digit threshold was largely attributable to bitcoin, which accounts for nearly half of the entire crypto category.
Bitcoin BTCUSD, -1.17%  has more than tripled in 2017, according to crypto pricing site CoinDesk, and has been blowing through $100 milestones at a blindingly fast pace. Bitcoin’s recent gains have brought its market cap to $44.5 billion. At its current size, bitcoin has surpassed the market capitalization of such major companies as Ford Motor Co. F, +0.72%  , Deere & Co. DE, +1.24%   and Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL, +2.00%  It is larger than more than two-thirds of the components of the S&P 500 SPX, +0.64%
Here’s what that translates into: If an investor were to have put $1,000 into bitcoin in 2010, that stake would be worth tens of millions of dollars today.
But there’s a whole crypto world out there beyond bitcoin: CoinDesk lists more than 800 cryptocurrencies, though most of them are thinly traded and have market capitalizations under $1 million. Only eight cryptocurrencies are currently worth more than $1 billion.
Second to bitcoin, ethereum is the most widely used product, with a market capitalization of nearly $24 billion. Ethereum has been an even bigger gainer than bitcoin in 2017. It started the year at $7.98 per coin, and is currently trading at $261 — a rise of nearly 3,200% year-to-date.
Ethereum took investors on a wild ride on Wednesday, plunging from more than $317 to briefly trade as low as 10 cents in a flash cash on the GDAX exchange before rebounding.
Ripple — the third-most valuable on this metric— recently cracked $10 billion in value.

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