As of the end of the third quarter, the native token XRP of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) has solidified its position as the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, reaching approximately $34.7 billion.
Compared to the second quarter, its circulating market capitalization increased by 31.1%. During the same period, the price of XRP also saw a significant rise of 28.5%.
However, with the recent victory of elected President Donald Trump and a clearer regulatory outlook in the United States, these indicators have become insufficient, with the increase over the past three weeks being the largest in nearly seven years.
XRP daily trading volume surged by 94%.
Research company Messari and its third-quarter report indicate that the recent momentum can be attributed to several key developments. Most notably, asset management firm Grayscale launched the XRP Trust in September, providing qualified investors with a new way to invest in XRP.
This development, along with the S-1 filings submitted by ETF issuers Bitwise, Canary, 21Shares, and WisdomTree in recent months to launch an XRP ETF, highlights the growing institutional interest in the token.
In the third quarter, several key network metrics reversed the previous declining trend. The average daily transaction volume increased by 94% quarter-over-quarter, reaching 1.7 million transactions, while new addresses grew by 10%, totaling 105,000.
However, this growth is primarily driven by micro-transactions (involving transactions of less than 1 XRP), which Ripple's report indicates are associated with spam activity. Notably, the increase in new addresses sharply contrasts with a 34% year-over-year decline in the number of new addresses from the third quarter of 2023 to the second quarter of 2024.
Despite some indicators rising, the total number of active addresses declined by 3% quarter-over-quarter, with the number of active sending addresses down by 20%, while the number of unique receiving addresses increased by 7%.
The price is approaching the historical high of 2018.
Payment transactions also showed significant growth, experiencing a quarter-over-quarter increase of 110% after a decline in the previous two quarters. This surge follows a significant increase in registration-related activity that began at the end of 2023.
In addition to payment transactions, there has been a significant shift in NFT-related activity on the XRPL. NFT minting and burning transactions grew by 93% and 148%, respectively, while NFT creation and offer acceptance transactions saw a slight decline.
Nevertheless, a deeper look into the fourth-quarter data reveals that XRP has seen the most significant upward trend in years, with its market capitalization skyrocketing by nearly $130 billion in just three weeks, making it the third-largest digital asset in the market, following Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
Its price has evidently followed suit, soaring 432% in recent weeks to a current trading price of $2.71 per token, nearing the historical high of $3,040 set during the 2018 bull market, with only a 20% gap between the current price and the all-time high.
Overall, the partial data from the third and fourth quarters depict an evolving and developing XRP ecosystem characterized by increased trading activity, heightened institutional interest, and a commitment to improving XRP's value proposition.
