By the end of the third quarter of the year, XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger (XRPL), had solidified its position as the seventh largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, reaching approximately $34.7 billion.

This represents a noticeable augment of 31.1%. market capitalization traded quarter to quarter (QoQ) compared to the second quarter. The price of XRP also saw a significant augment of 28.5% over the same period.

However, with President-elect Donald Trump’s recent victory and a clearer horizon on the US regulatory front, these indicators are falling brief, and the rally over the past three weeks has been the largest in almost seven years.

XRP sees a 94% augment in daily transactions

Research company Messari and its Q3 report show that recent dynamics can be attributed to several key events. Most notably, asset management firm Grayscale launched its XRP Trust in September, giving accredited investors a fresh way to gain exposure to XRP.

This study, together with S-1 filings, authored by listed fund (ETF), issuers Bitwise, Canary, 21Shares and WisdomTree, which will launch XRP ETFs in recent months, highlights the growing institutional interest in the token.

In the third quarter, several key network metrics reversed previous declines. Average daily transactions increased by 94% quarter-on-quarter to 1.7 million, while the number of fresh addresses increased by 10% to 105,000.

However, the augment was largely due to microtransactions (transactions involving less than 1 XRP), which Ripple’s report said were linked to a spam campaign. It is worth noting that this augment fresh addresses contrasts with a 34% year-over-year decline in fresh quarterly addresses from Q3 2023 to Q2 2024.

Despite increases in some metrics, total lively addresses decreased 3% quarter over quarter, driven by a 20% decline in lively sending addresses, while the number of unique receiving addresses increased by 7%.

Price close to the record from 2018

Payment transactions also showed remarkable growth, increasing by 110% QoQ. after declines in the previous two quarters. The surge follows significant growth in enrollment activity that began in tardy 2023.

In addition to payment transactions, there have also been noticeable changes in NFT-related activity on XRPL. NFT mining and burning transactions increased by 93% and 148%, respectively, while NFT offering creation and acceptance transactions saw a slight decline.

Still, if you dig deeper into Q4 data, XRP is seeing its most notable upward trend in years, with its market capitalization skyrocketing by nearly $130 billion in just three weeks, making it third largest digital asset in the market, just behind Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

Its price has clearly followed suit, with a colossal uptrend of 432% over the past few weeks to a current trading price of $2.71 per token, close to the record high of $3,040 achieved during the 2018 bull run, and currently at just 20% difference between current price and all-time high.

Overall, data from the third quarter and part of the fourth quarter paint a picture of a growing and evolving XRP ecosystem characterized by increased transaction activity, institutional interest, and commitment to improving the XRP value proposition.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com