The July 13 ruling on the suit filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has led to unprecedented interest in the XRP token. In the few days since the court decision, a jump in XRP (XRP) trading has seen it surpass all other cryptos in monthly volume, according to Kaiko.
In a research report released on July 17, the blockchain information service noted a 61% increase in XRP trading since the court’s decision. On Monday morning, XRP accounted for 21% of global trade volume, ahead of Bitcoin (BTC), with 20%. Ether (ETH) accounted for 8% of trading in that time.
Related: XRP ruling a ‘watershed moment,’ but we’re not out of the woods yet — Lawyers
The price of XRP has hit a 15-month high, and trading volume is at a 10-month high. “[G]lobal trading activity remains subdued,” the report stated as an explanation for the relatively modest jump in trading volume. In addition, “Altcoin volumes (excluding XRP) did not see as large a bump as expected.”
#XRP has surpassed #BTC as the highest volume asset
— Kaiko (@KaikoData) July 17, 2023
Since last week's court ruling, 21% of all crypto trade volume has been for XRP. pic.twitter.com/OLdTQrk1kO
XRP’s market cap rose by $21.2 billion within hours of the ruling to become the fourth largest crypto, up from seventh place. XRP trading was helped along by the return of the token to U.S. crypto exchanges. Kaiko noted in its report, however, that XRP had weathered the SEC suit, filed in 2020, with remarkably little downturn thanks to international support:
“What’s interesting about XRP is that the lawsuit and exchange de-listings did not have an overly negative impact on price or volume at the time.”
Interest remained high, particularly in South Korea, with exchanges Upbit and Bithumb seeing $467 billion in trading after the suit was filed. Binance processed over $600 billion in trades in that time.
The SEC may appeal the ruling, Kaiko said. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed confidence that an appeal decision would favor Ripple.