Could This Surging XRP Ledger (XRPL) Metric Lead to Ripple Price Rally?

TL;DR

• Important XRP-related indicators spiked significantly lately, hinting at a growing adoption.
• Nonetheless, XRP’s price lags behind the other leading cryptocurrencies possibly due to the recent developments in the Ripple v. SEC case.

XRP Activity Goes Up

The XRP Ledger (XRPL) – an open-source, decentralized blockchain that serves as the underlying technology for Ripple’s native cryptocurrency, XRP – has recently witnessed a substantial resurgence.

According to Santiment, there were 35,799 unique active wallets a few days ago: the highest figure observed in over three months. Moreover, 3,858 wallets were created in a single day, a number last seen in March this year.

A deeper look at xrpscan shows that other important metrics have also spiked as of late. Examples are XRP payments from one account to another, executed transactions, and more.

The rising number of active wallets signals an increased adoption and utility of the XRP Ledger. This could be interpreted as a bullish factor suggesting growing trust in the network, leading to more investors and a fresh flow of capital toward the ecosystem.

While the price of Ripple’s token is in the green today (October 21), it is still trailing behind the gains registered by the other leading cryptocurrencies in the past several days. It is currently inching toward $0.56, representing a 3.2% rise on a weekly scale.

XRP Price, Source: CoinGecko

Bitcoin (BTC), on the other hand, is up 6% for the same period, briefly reaching almost $69,500. Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) have pumped by 7% and 9%, respectively, while Dogecoin (DOGE) has exploded by nearly 30%.

Uncertainty Caused by the Ongoing Ripple v. SEC Case

One potential factor potentially hitting the breaks on XRP to experience more substantial gains is the prolonged lawsuit between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

As CryptoPotato reported last week, the agency officially appealed parts of Judge Analisa Torres’ 2023 verdict, which determined that the company’s sales of its XRP token to retail investors on crypto exchanges did not violate US securities laws. However, it did not contend with the asset’s status as non-security.

Earlier this summer, Judge Torres ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million fine for breaking certain rules. The firm agreed to the terms, and many believed this would mark the end of the case, which has been ongoing for almost four years. Nonetheless, the SEC’s latest action means that the lawsuit is entering a new phase with its official resolution not in sight.