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At the end of the third quarter of the year, XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger (XRPL), solidified its position as the seventh largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, reaching approximately $34.7 billion.
This represents a notable increase of 31.1% in its current market capitalization quarter on quarter (QoQ) compared to the second quarter. The price of XRP also saw a significant increase of 28.5% during the same period.
However, with the recent victory of President-elect Donald Trump and a clearer horizon on the regulatory front in the United States, these metrics have fallen short, with the rebound in the last three weeks being the largest in almost seven years.
XRP Sees 94% Increase in Daily Transactions
The research firm Messari and its third quarter <a target="_blank" href="https://messari.io/report/state-of-xrp-ledger-q3-2024?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=q3_quarterly&utm_content=state_of_xrp_ledger_q3_2024&destination=protocol_services_research” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>report show that the recent momentum can be attributed to several key developments. Notably, asset management company Grayscale launched its XRP Trust in September, giving accredited investors a new way to gain exposure to XRP.
This development, along with S-1 filings from exchange traded fund (ETF) Bitwise, Canary, 21Shares and WisdomTree will launch XRP ETFs in recent months, underscoring growing institutional interest in the token.
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In the third quarter, several key network metrics reversed earlier declines. Average daily transactions soared 94% quarter-on-quarter to 1.7 million, while new addresses rose 10% to 105,000.
However, the increase was largely driven by microtransactions (transactions involving less than 1 XRP), which Ripple's report said were associated with a spam message campaign. It should be noted that this increase in new directions contrasts with a 34% year-over-year decline in quarterly new addresses from Q3 2023 to Q2 2024.
Despite the rebound in certain metrics, total active addresses fell 3% quarter-over-quarter, driven by a 20% decline in active sending addresses, while unique receiving addresses increased 7%.
The price is approaching the 2018 record
Payment transactions also showed notable growth, increasing 110% quarter-on-quarter after experiencing declines in the previous two quarters. This increase followed a significant increase related to enrollment activities that began in late 2023.
In addition to payment transactions, nft-related activities on XRPL also saw notable changes. nft minting and burning transactions increased by 93% and 148%, respectively, while nft offer creation and acceptance transactions saw slight drops.
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Despite this, if we dig deeper into the Q4 data, third largest digital asset on the market, just behind bitcoin (btc) and ethereum (eth).
Its price has clearly followed suit, with a colossal 432% uptrend in recent weeks to a current trading price of $2.71 per token, close to the all-time high of $3,040 reached during the 2018 bull run, and now with only a 20% gap between the current price and the all-time high.
Overall, the Q3 and part of Q4 data paint a picture of a growing and evolving XRP ecosystem characterized by increased transaction activity, institutional interest, and a commitment to improving XRP's value proposition.
Featured image of DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
