According to a new analysis by Messari, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) has had a busy first quarter of 2023. Daily active addresses and daily transactions have increased by 13.9% and 10.7%, respectively, suggesting an uptick in activity. The price of XRP increased by an astonishing 55.5%, from $0.35 to $0.54, which was arguably the most remarkable development. The rise followed positive courtroom developments in the continuing legal dispute between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which provided the impetus.
Notably, the Q1 report also noted how the XRPL ecosystem was developing. NFT transactions were introduced under the XLS-20 standard, with five new transaction types already developed and five more being suggested. Despite a minor decline in NFT activity from the prior quarter, 436,000 NFT mints and 277,000 NFT offers were nevertheless made and accepted in Q1. The Flare Network and Coreum sidechains, which both emphasise interoperability and decentralised data, have also reached their mainnets.
The financial performance of XRP also improved significantly, outpacing the rise in the market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. Market capitalization of XRP increased noticeably by 59.9%, from $17.4 billion to $27.8 billion. Two major price increases were sparked in March by a favourable development in the SEC case against Ripple. The transaction fees of the XRPL, which are burnt, put deflationary effect on the total supply of XRP, balancing the pace of inflation and causing the price to rise.
The NFTs, the metaverse, and smart contracts are the primary areas of future research for the XRPL developers. Plans for the Root Network, Hooks, and an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain for Futureverse were described in depth in the study. The XRPL ecosystem currently offers a number of capabilities, such as quick, energy-efficient cross-currency and cross-border payments. If these innovations are successful, they will add a new level of functionality to the ecosystem.
