XRP spikes as Ripple scores Singapore license, SEC loses motion to appeal

XRP bulls had a reason to cheer as the payments firm Ripple was granted a license to offer key services in Singapore and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lost a bid to appeal in the Ripple case.

Prices rose 5.3% before retreating in Asian afternoon hours Wednesday, with trading volumes spiking to $1.7 billion from Tuesday’s $900 million, CoinGecko data shows. At the time of writing, XRP was trading at 53 cents.

District Judge Analisa Torres said in a brief ruling Tuesday that the SEC had failed to meet its burden under the law to show that there were controlling questions of law or that there are substantial grounds for differences of opinion.

Broader crypto markets fell as profit-taking continued after a strong move on Monday. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), a broad-based index of hundreds of tokens, fell 0.7%, indicating losses across the board.

Korean exchange UpBit, which apparently attracts massive speculative XRP trading, led volumes in the past 24 hours, with some $280 million traded on the platform. Crypto exchange Binance saw some $271 million exchanged in the same period.

XRP accounted for more than 12% of all trading activity on both exchanges, the data shows.

Ripple has historically maintained a distance from XRP, the token that powers some of its products and the XRP Ledger network. But any progress in Ripple’s court cases, or licenses, clearly has an impact on XRP prices as traders consider the two related.

On Wednesday, Ripple’s Singapore arm has secured a license as a major payments institution from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, as reported, allowing it to keep providing digital payment token services in the fast-growing region.