XRP, a payments-focused cryptocurrency, has surpassed BNB token to become the world’s fourth-largest digital asset by market cap. According to market data, XRP boasts a market cap of $41.44 billion, a 66% surge in the past 24 hours alone. BNB’s market value rose 6.5% to $40.57 billion, with XRP’s price surging from 47 cents to nearly 78 cents.
The surge in XRP’s market cap is largely attributed to Ripple Lab’s partial victory in a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On Thursday, the District Court for the Southern District of New York said Ripple’s offer and sale of XRP on digital asset exchanges did not amount to offers and sales of investment contracts as alleged by the SEC. However, the Court did say that Ripple’s direct sale of XRP worth over $700 million to institutions, hedge funds and other parties violated securities laws.
The ruling has opened doors for a renewed listing of XRP by centralized exchanges, with Crypto.com already taking the step and Gemini exploring the listing of XRP for both spot and derivatives trading. CoinShares’ Head of Product, Townsend Lansing, noted that the ruling has determined that XRP is a security. The Court has found Ripple to be in violation of securities laws, specifically in relation to direct sales to institutional investors. As such, XRP is not only deemed a security, but questions have arisen regarding the legality of its offering, he said.
Traders have yet to focus on the second part of the ruling, as evident from the price surge and the bullish positioning in the perpetual futures market. Data from Coinglass show aggregated volume-weighted perpetual futures funding rates worldwide have jumped to the highest since at least December, with the open interest-weighted rates rising to a four-month high. Both suggest the leverage is decisively skewed to the bullish side.