XRP, the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has replaced bitcoin (BTC) as the most traded digital asset on Coinbase (COIN), the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange seen as a proxy for US demand.
Bitcoin maintained its position as the most traded crypto asset on Binance, the largest exchange by volume, which is off limits to US investors.
Volume trends are in line with the upswing in US demand for XRP, which is closely linked to blockchain-based payment network Ripple, as predicted by the Coinbase premium indicator a week ago.
Interest in XRP, the biggest winner after Donald Trump’s election victory in November, surged after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse met the president-elect nearly two weeks ago. It has also been supported by speculation about a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) approved in the US
At press time, the XRP/USD pair accounted for 25% of Coinbase’s 24-hour trading volume of $6.86 billion. The BTC/USD pair was second, contributing 20% with ETH/USD in third place, according to data source Coingecko. On Binance, XRP was the second most traded coin.
Since November, the price of the payments-focused cryptocurrency has surged over 600% to $3.33, the highest since 2017. The valuation has increased by a third this week alone, according to CoinDesk and TradingView data.
The rally is supported by a record high interest in the future and an increase in the number of large owners. Data tracked by TradingView and CoinMetrics shows that the number of unique addresses with at least $100,000 in cryptocurrency has increased to 108,540.
