South Korean exchanges recently experienced a surge in XRP trading activity, surpassing Bitcoin in terms of volume. This spike in activity coincided with the ongoing case that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has against Ripple, the company behind XRP.
During this period, XRP’s price saw a significant increase of 20%, with its trade volume accounting for 40% of the total volume on Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange. Other exchanges like Bithumb and Korbit also noted a substantial increase in XRP trading volume, with XRP accounting for 35% of their total volumes. This sudden surge in demand for XRP clearly indicates a growing interest in the altcoin.
While XRP trading volumes on global exchanges such as Binance and OKX also experienced a notable increase, they still fell short of the trading demands of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Additionally, the number of XRP futures contracts saw a significant rise during this period. However, on Friday, XRP’s trade volume fell below that of Bitcoin as it experienced an 8% drop, compared to Bitcoin’s 1.3% decrease.
The sudden interest in XRP among South Korean traders can be attributed to their tendency to follow trends. With Ripple making progress in its legal battles against the SEC and garnering positive attention from news outlets and social media influencers, XRP has become a hot topic in the country. This has led to a surge in buying pressure on the token in recent weeks.
Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse has expressed confidence in a swift resolution to the SEC lawsuit against his company. The lawsuit, which alleges securities violations by Ripple, is based on Garlinghouse’s actions of selling a significant amount of XRP while publicly stating he was “long” on the token.
Despite the ongoing legal battle, the SEC has recently dropped investigations into other companies like Paxos and Stacks. Many industry experts believe that a similar outcome could be on the horizon for Ripple. As the situation unfolds, the eyes of the cryptocurrency community remain fixed on the developments surrounding XRP and Ripple’s legal challenges.