XRP climbed 24% in 24 hours to trade around $1.26, outperforming every other token in the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. South Korean exchange volume, a Bitwise ETF spike, and a fresh White House push for the Clarity Act all coincided with the move, while a separate Bitcoin short squeeze added fuel to the broader market.
XRP climbed 24% in 24 hours to trade around $1.26, making it the best-performing token among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, according to CoinGecko data. The token has also gained 31% over the past seven days, extending a move that sharpened in the latest session.
XRP's market capitalization stands at roughly $79.15 billion, making it the fifth-largest cryptocurrency, while its 24-hour trading volume has reached approximately $6.34 billion.
South Korean traders drive the volume
South Korean traders appear to be the main force behind the rally, based on volume recorded by Upbit, the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange. XRP's 24-hour trading volume on Upbit surpassed $399 million, and the token has historically attracted strong retail interest there.
Bitwise runs an XRP ETF, and its CEO, Hunter Horsley, said the fund traded more than $55 million in volume during the session, calling the jump a "massive spike" in trading activity. Separately, BitPay announced Thursday that XRP is now available through its wallet, letting users in the United States and other supported countries buy, swap, and sell the token while retaining control of their private keys.
Trump renews his Clarity Act push
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse joined President Trump, SEC Chair Paul Atkins, and CFTC Chair Mike Selig at the White House on Aug. 19 to discuss digital-asset regulation, according to The Motley Fool. Trump later urged Congress to advance the Clarity Act, a market-structure bill for digital assets.
The bill remains stalled in the Senate, and The Motley Fool noted that a Clarity Act win would likely benefit Ripple, the company, more directly than it would benefit XRP the token itself.
Bitcoin's short squeeze adds fuel
Crypto Briefing reported that a separate short squeeze in Bitcoin triggered a wave of liquidations across the broader market this week. On Aug. 19, Bitcoin surged roughly 5% to 8% in a single session, hitting intraday highs between $69,500 and $71,750, its largest daily gain since March.
More than $1 billion in Bitcoin short positions were liquidated within about one hour, Crypto Briefing reported, with total short liquidations across the crypto market reaching $2.7 billion. Analysts cited by Crypto Briefing described the move as a textbook example of altcoin beta, in which altcoins tend to swing even harder than Bitcoin once it breaks out of a range.
Sources: U.Today, The Motley Fool, Crypto Briefing
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