XRP flips Solana market cap, soars to seven-year high fueled by South Korean traders

Ripple’s XRP noticed a notable rise this weekend, crossing the $2 mark for the primary time in nearly seven years.

Knowledge from CryptoSlate exhibits that XRP peaked at $2.50, its highest worth since January 2018, earlier than stabilizing at $2.27 on the time of writing.

Regardless of this slight pullback, XRP has seen a every day acquire of 20%, pushing its weekly acquire to 54%. Over the previous month, the token’s worth has elevated by 345%, a formidable fourfold enhance.

This rally elevated XRP to fourth among the many prime cryptocurrencies by market cap, overtaking Solana. XRP’s market cap now stands at $133.9 billion, whereas Solana stays caught at $112 billion.

If it maintains its present momentum, XRP’s market cap will surpass that of Tether’s USDT, presently at $134 billion.

South Korean merchants’ gas run

A good portion of XRP’s latest surge has been attributed to South Korean merchants.

Blockchain analytics firm Scopescan noted That XRP/KRW buying and selling quantity on Upbit, South Korea’s largest trade, reached $3.8 billion previously 24 hours, surpassing Bitcoin transactions by 11 instances.

On Bithumb, one other main South Korean platform, XRP transactions reached $1.2 billion, representing 32% of the trade’s whole quantity.

In the meantime, international platforms akin to Binance and OKX reported elevated XRP exercise, however Bitcoin and Ethereum maintained increased buying and selling volumes.

Ryan Kim, co-founder of Hashed, emphasised the loyalty of the South Korean XRP group. He linked this enthusiasm to early adoption campaigns within the nation, suggesting that long-term traders are seeing important returns.

He declared:

“Ripple Labs offered XRP to Korean Ajummas in 2014 in a Ponzi scheme. It was referred to as ‘Ripple Market Korea.’ There have been so many individuals investing in XRP at the moment. They in all probability made that a lot cash lol. There’s a actual XRP group in Korea and that’s the reason Koreans purchase loads of XRP.

Different catalysts

In the meantime, XRP’s rally additionally coincides with a big shift in market sentiment, fueled by regulatory optimism and institutional curiosity.

Market observers famous that newly elected President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto stance and the resignation of Securities and Change Fee (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler have renewed hopes for a positive end result in Ripple’s authorized battle towards the monetary supervisor.

Additional, the potential adoption of XRP-focused spot ETFs is including to the thrill. Main gamers akin to 21Shares and Bitwise have filed purposes for such merchandise, indicating elevated institutional curiosity. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse believes an XRP ETF is simply a matter of time, particularly after the SEC authorized comparable funds for Bitcoin and Ethereum.

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