Weekly Crypto Market Winners: Ripple, XDC Network and Flare
The cryptocurrency market has taken a breather after rallying in the first half of March on the back of a series of bank runs that led to the collapse of several financial institutions. At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $27,900 and Ethereum (ETH) at $1,765, while the total market capitalization has passed $1.2 trillion, according to CoinGecko.
Still, some coins are rising in value more than others, and this past week the top three among the top 100 cryptocurrencies have been:
XRP
The 6th largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $23.6 billion is trading at $0.465, up more than 18% in the past week. In the last 24 hours, the crypto asset registered $1.6 billion in trading volume. And while XRP is up 35% year-to-date (YTD), it’s still down 86.5% from its peak of $3.40 five years ago in January 2018.
According to recent data from CoinMarketCap, XRP has seen increasing interest from Korean investors. While trading volume on Upbit and Bithumb has seen an increase, it is unclear how long this trend will continue.
XRP’s positive price performance has also been in step with its soaring social metrics, according to data aggregator Lunar Crash. XRP’s social engagement increased by 105.9% to 245.57 million, and mentions increased by 26.4% to 80,720.
It also had up to 3,440 unique social contributors per hour, indicating an active and engaged community. Many in the XRP community have been actively promoting the token on social media, as they strongly believe that parent company Ripple will win its ongoing legal battle against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It is worth noting that Ripple recently filed a new application for fair notice, citing the decision of Judge Michael Wiles of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in his ruling on SEC objections in the Voyager bankruptcy case. This move by Ripple has further fueled the optimism of XRP supporters, who see this as a positive sign in their favor.
The ongoing legal battle between Ripple Labs and the US SEC has been a major source of uncertainty for the cryptocurrency industry. But investor optimism that Ripple will prevail in the lawsuit is finally helping XRP’s value.
If the court rules in favor of Ripple, it could not only pave the way for XRP’s future growth, but also provide much-needed clarity on the regulatory status of cryptocurrencies.
The SEC has accused Ripple of conducting an unregistered securities offering of $1.3 billion in XRP tokens starting in 2013. However, Ripple has strongly disputed the SEC’s allegations, arguing that XRP is not a security.
The court decision is expected to be made in the next few weeks, and if Ripple wins, it could lead to increased demand for XRP and even increase the price of other cryptos facing regulatory uncertainty. A win for Ripple could further encourage wider adoption of the crypto market.
In addition to all this, Ripple (XRP) also witnessed an increase in transactions. Recent data from XRP Scan indicates that the XRPL network has processed over 1 million transactions on average, with over 2,000 new addresses being created daily.
However, concerns have arisen over recent transactions involving large amounts of XRP tokens, coinciding with the news that Signature Bank closed.
Although the Ripple CEO claims that the bank shutdown has not affected operations, it remains to be seen how this will affect XRP as the consequences of the bank shutdown become clearer.
Click here to learn all about investing in XRP.
XDC Network (XDC)
The 84th largest crypto with a market cap of $551 million, XDC is trading at nearly $0.04, up 13% in the last week, while managing $4.3 million in the last 24 hours. Although XDC is up 58.6% in 2023 so far, it is still down over 79% from its August 2021 all-time high (ATH) of $0.192.
XDC Network (formerly XinFin Network) is a blockchain platform that aims to revolutionize global trade and finance by addressing key issues such as scalability, interoperability and transaction speed.
One of the key advantages of the XDC Network is its delegated proof-of-stake (dPoS) mechanism, which ensures almost zero gas fees, two-second transaction times and over 2000 TPS. The platform’s hybrid relay bridges and interoperability features enable blockchain users to enjoy a seamless and democratic trading experience.
XDC Network’s native token, XDC, plays an important role in fueling the platform and giving users access to global commerce by streamlining transactions and supporting various use cases through tokenized and non-tokenized solutions.
One of the main advantages of the XDC network is its compatibility with ISO20022 messaging standards. ISO 20022 is an ISO standard for electronic data exchange between financial institutions, covering financial information such as payment transactions, securities trading and settlement information, credit and debit card transactions and more.
The XDC network’s compatibility with this standard allows easy integration into legacy banking systems, ERPs and SWIFT systems, making it one of the most flexible enterprise-grade blockchains in the space.
In recent news, XDC Network has partnered with Fathom to offer users an innovative way to earn XDC Coins. And as part of the partnership, Fathom will allow users to borrow real-world assets as collateral and earn XDC tokens in return.
The aim of this collaboration is to offer a higher return than other lending platforms and at the same time increase the usefulness and liquidity of XDC. The partnership is a strategic move that will help bridge the gap between traditional finance and the blockchain space by offering a seamless and sustainable method of serving XDC.
Click here to learn all about investing in XDC.
Flare (FLR)
With a market capitalization of $425 million, FLR ranks 99th in the crypto market. The token registered an 11.4% jump in price in the last week and is now trading at $0.035, while managing $9.1 million in trading volume in the last 24 hours.
The coin hit a new high earlier this year in January at $0.15, but is currently down 76.4% from its peak.
FLR tokens were sent to XRP holders earlier this year after nearly two years of anticipation. More than 4.28 billion FLR tokens were distributed to XRP holders who held at least one token during the snapshot on a 1:1 basis. This represented 15% of the project’s total supply, while the rest will be distributed over the next three years.
Recently, Flare Networks also completed the first of 36 planned FLR airdrops to wrapped FLR token holders (WFLR). The airdrop was made possible after passing the Flare Improvement Proposal (FIP.01), which entitles WFLR holders to FLR drops every month for the next three years.
Previously, the plan was to distribute the remaining FLR tokens to XRP holders in 36 tranches over the same period, but the introduction of FIP.01 made the airdrop more inclusive and in line with the project’s broader vision.
To be eligible for this airdrop, users must hold WFLR for 23 days prior to each damage day. The network selects three random blocks within this specified holding period to average the WFLR tokens held by each wallet. Each holder’s rewards are then calculated as a percentage of the wallet’s average WFLR holdings to all WFLRs in circulation.
Flare Network is transitioning from a pure DeFi application using XRP tokens to a Tier 1 blockchain and oracle provider. The network has already handled more than 268 million requests for data and transactions.
Click here to learn all about investing in FLR.
Top winners of the crypto market
Among all the coins on the market, obscure tokens such as Vow (VOW), Polylastic (POLX), Curio Governance (CGT) and Cratos (CRTS) recorded the most gains of 1,096%, 1,530%, 3,470% and 14,426% respectively, according to Messari. However, these coins have extremely low volume, making them easy to pump and dump.
Low-cap coins with decent amounts of volume that pumped the hardest this past week involve OAX (OAX), which has a market cap of $26.4 million with $2.38 million in 24-hour volume. The coin is up 109% in the last week and 178% YTD.
The $278 million market cap FLEX Coin (FLEX), with $1.87 million in 24-hour volume, surged over 79% last week and is up 102% in the past month.
Other notable mentions include; Diamond (DMD), a market cap of $34 million with $0.85 million in volume, is up 52% in the last week and 112.5% YTD. QLC Chain (QLC) is a $58.5M market cap with around $4.5M volume, up 45% in the past seven days and 219% YTD.
Radicle (RAD) is another, which is a market cap of $124 million with $43.13 million in volume, up 44% in 7 days and 87% YTD. Meanwhile, Trader Joe’s ( JOE ) is a $161 million market cap with $88.54 million in volume that has recorded 43% gains over the past seven days and 258% YTD.
