July was a month of big gains for MakerDAO’s MKR and Ripple’s XRP, the two leading gainers among the constituents of the Coindesk Market Index (CMI). MKR advanced 47%, while XRP added 46.6%, following a U.S. judge ruling that the sale of XRP tokens on exchanges did not constitute investment contracts. The two leading cryptocurrencies by market cap, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), each lost 4% last month.
MKR’s surge to a near one-year high price came on July 21 following the introduction of a token buyback program. Ripple also saw a big jump, climbing to as high as 93.8 cents on July 13. Stellar’s XLM token also witnessed noticeable gains, climbing 35% after the Stellar Foundation issued a research report detailing its off-ramps. Other gainers in July included Solana’s SOL, which was up 25%.
The assets faring worst last month included Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which lost 20%, and Litecoin (LTC), which dropped 18%. Litecoin’s decline came ahead of the token’s third halving event, which is expected to take place tomorrow.
Looking forward, August tends to be a slow month for markets, though the market is optimistic that an SEC decision on any of the numerous spot Bitcoin ETF applications could open the door to a huge wave of demand. In 2022, Bitcoin tumbled 14% in August and Ether dipped 8%.