The year 2017 has been pretty positive for Bitcoin and all other currencies. Not just in terms of prices going up, but also an increase in trading volume. Ripple has seen a very good year in this regard. The trading volume of their XRP asset peaked at $74bn in Q4 of 2017. A major increase compared to the $68m back in Q1 2016. Whether or not this trend will continue, remains to be seen.
It is evident the demand for cryptocurrencies and digital assets is still growing. The year 2017 has been quite good in this regard. So far, this trend seems to continue throughout 2018. It is still too early to draw any real conclusions in this regard, though. One thing’s for sure: XRP has not gone by unnoticed. In fact, the demand for this particular digital asset has never been greater. Things have certainly shifted into a higher gear for Ripple.
Solid Trading Volume Momentum for XRP
During Q1 of 2016, the demand for XRP was relatively low. A trading volume of just $68m over the span of three months is pretty abysmal. Then again, the value of this asset was a lot lower than it is today. By the end of 2016, the quarterly volume had increased to $208m. Solid growth, all things considered, but still, nothing to get overly excited about. At that time, it was still all about Bitcoin and virtually nothing else.
Things picked up in 2017. While the first quarter was mediocre, things quickly improved shortly after. Q2 and Q3 resulted in $13bn and $17bn worth of XRP trading respectively. This is more along the lines of what people had hoped for at that point. However, the cherry on top was the final quarter of 2017. With around $74bn in trading volume, it confirms the demand for this asset has increased significantly. It’s also part of the reason why the XRP price has appreciated so much ever since that time.
For the time being, it remains unclear what 2018 will bring. We have seen a major XRP price increase so far. As a result, the trading volume also picked up once again. If this trend keeps up, XRP will easily surpass $100bn in volume for the first quarter. This is still a very unpredictable ecosystem, though. Anything can change on a whim’s notice. All it takes is a major Bitcoin price drop to make most other altcoins nearly irrelevant. Whether or not this will happen, is anybody’s guess.
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