Memecoin Frenzy Boosts XRP Ledger Activity as Ripple Eyes Stablecoin Launch

Memecoin trading is really taking off on Ripple's XRP Ledger. While the activity is still small compared to Solana, which is known for its memecoins, it's definitely gaining traction.

DeFi investors are diving into Ripple’s growing DeFi ecosystem, hoping to cash in on the latest memecoin craze. This is all happening on the XRP Ledger, or XRPL, which Ripple created as a competitor to blockchains like Ethereum and Solana.

According to Cryptoquant, a platform called Magnetic reported $57 million in trading volume over the last 24 hours. That’s a massive 2,000% jump from the $2.6 million traded on December 1.

During this trading boom, the number of active accounts on XRPL has now surpassed 100,000 for the first time. Among the most popular tokens are several memecoins—tokens that rely heavily on their popularity for trading.

Many of these memecoins are tied to Ripple and its community. For example, a token called XRP Army aims to serve as a reference currency within the Ripple ecosystem. It skyrocketed to a market value of $100 million in just hours before dropping about 61%. Another token, Ripples, is linked to a mobile game project and has a market value of $11 million.

Despite the excitement on XRPL, it’s still small compared to Solana. In November, Solana’s weekly decentralized exchange volume topped $40 billion, with popular memecoins like Dogwifhat, Bonk, and Popcat trading in the billions.

While XRPL is currently focused on memecoins, that might change soon. Ripple is expected to get approval from the New York Department of Financial Services to launch its RLUSD stablecoin. This dollar-pegged token aims to compete with Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, and it will be available on both XRPL and Ethereum.

If Ripple’s stablecoin can capture even a small slice of USDT’s $134 billion circulating supply, it could really boost DeFi activity on XRPL. There’s also growing interest in tokenized versions of stocks and bonds. So far, investors have put $5 million into tokenized US Treasury bonds issued by OpenEden on XRPL.

The rise in XRPL usage comes as Ripple’s XRP token hits a multi-year high, increasing by 77% over the past month. Bitcoin is hovering just below the $100,000 mark.

Arthur Azizov, the CEO of crypto payment provider B2BInPay, believes Ripple’s digital asset could break its all-time high of $3.40 before the year ends.