South Korean exchange UpBit saw a surge in XRP trading volumes, with $2.5 billion worth of tokens traded in the past 24 hours – the highest among counterparts, in a sign of speculative frenzy – according to data. This accounted for more than 50% of the total trading volumes on UpBit in that period, with market depth standing at nearly $5 million. This liquidity is usually under $1 million, historical data shows.
The surge came after a U.S. court ruled that the sale of XRP on exchanges did not constitute investment contracts, causing the token to rise as much as 96% before giving back gains on Friday morning. Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) usually account for the majority of the trading activity on UpBit, making the XRP volume surge an anomaly. Across global exchanges, ten South Korean exchanges turned billions of dollars worth of XRP.
South Korean traders are known for pushing euphoric rallies on tokens, with the so-called Kimchi Premium driving prices of bitcoin on local exchanges to a premium of as much as 30% compared to international counterparts. However, some of that volume may be attributable to wash trading, a manipulative technique.