Blockchain analytics company Santiment reports a significant surge in on-chain volume for XRP, the cryptocurrency that powers Ripple’s cross-border payments solution. Santiment notes that as of the beginning of September, XRP has recorded its highest on-chain volume since February 1st. This increase is accompanied by a marked rise in development activities related to the digital asset.
Santiment highlights that XRP has seen substantial increases in key metrics at the start of the month. Specifically, the on-chain transaction volume reached 4.8 billion XRP, while the circulating supply hit 2.03 billion XRP. The development activities for XRP, which ranks as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, have also seen a significant boost.
XRP is currently (as of 7:55 p.m. UTC on 3 September 2023) trading at around $0.506, up 1.77% over the last 24 hours.
The spike you see in the three-month XRP-USD price chart below (from TradingView) is due to what happened on 13 July 2023. In a landmark ruling by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in the SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit on that day, two key points were emphasized. First, the judge stated that XRP, as a digital token, does not inherently meet the Howey requirements to be considered an investment contract. Second, she clarified that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP on digital asset exchanges did not constitute the offer and sale of investment contracts. The ruling led to significant market reactions, including Coinbase’s decision to relist XRP, a digital asset it had previously delisted.
In a broader market context, Santiment also comments on Bitcoin’s recent performance. The analytics firm attributes Bitcoin’s latest price drop to levels not seen since June to the prevailing fear, doubt, and uncertainty (FUD) regarding the potential rejection of spot Bitcoin ETF applications. This sentiment persists even after the SEC lost a lawsuit against crypto firm Grayscale concerning the rejection of its Bitcoin ETF proposal.
Santiment also observes that the supply of stablecoins held by crypto whales could be an indicator of Bitcoin’s next price move, either to $30,000 or $25,000. The firm notes that whales appear to be indecisive in accumulating stablecoins, a key metric often used to predict future cryptocurrency market trends.
Featured Image Via Midjourney
