After several years of downturn and rollercoaster ride amid Ripple's legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), XRP has finally lit up the world of its investors by reclaiming highs never seen in years.
Particularly, over the past day alone, XRP has registered a 28.2% pump in market cap to flip both USDT and Solana and become third largest crypto asset, following Ethereum.
At the time of writing, the crypto was seen exchanging hands at a price of $2.41. Notably, the current trading price of XRP now puts its 29.3% away from its all-time high (ATH) of $3.40 seen in January 2018.
Data from blockchain analytics firm Santiment reveals that wallets holding 1 million to 10 million XRP have accumulated 679.1 million tokens (valued at $1.66 billion) in just three weeks, marking significant whale activity.
Additionally, the total number of non-empty XRP wallets has surpassed 5.5 million, setting a new milestone in the crypto asset's eight-year history. All these factors, together, have helped the asset rally by over 70% over the past week.
Key catalysts
A key driver behind XRP’s recent upward trajectory has been Ripple’s legal victory over the SEC. Since 2020, Ripple has been embroiled in a lawsuit where the SEC alleged that XRP was sold as an unregistered security.
Ripple’s courtroom success has not only brought clarity to XRP’s regulatory status but also reignited investor confidence, contributing significantly to its price surge.
In addition to the legal developments, reports suggest that the New York Department of Financial Services may soon approve Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, with a potential launch date of December 4, 2024. Speculation around this launch has fueled further excitement among XRP enthusiasts.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s earlier post on X in May about XRP’s potential to “power the world” has resurfaced among supporters, adding to the community’s optimism about the token’s future.
Another contributing factor is the possibility of XRP-based spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Prominent asset managers, including 21Shares, Canary Capital, and Bitwise, have filed applications for these ETFs, which, if approved, could provide another avenue for institutional investment and drive additional market demand for XRP.
While XRP’s upward momentum has been a boon for many investors, it has also led to significant market volatility, resulting in substantial liquidations. According to Coinglass, 135,464 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with total liquidations across all crypto assets reaching $383.41 million.
Of this, XRP accounted for $60.39 million, with $42.37 million attributed to short traders who bet against the crypto’s rise. Interestingly, even long traders were not immune, facing liquidations of $18.02 million despite the asset’s bullish trend.
