XRPL network activity declines in Q3 despite XRP price jump

• While XRP’s price grew in Q3, XRPL recorded a fall in network activity.
• XRP has seen a reduction in daily demand in the past few days. 

Decentralized distributed ledger XRPL [XRP] witnessed a decline in network activity in the third quarter of the year, Messari found in a new report. 

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This decline came despite a jump in XRP’s value after a ruling in July that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could not classify XRP as a security.

According to the on-chain data provider, following the ruling, XRP’s value spiked by over 70% within hours to peak at $0.82 on 20 July. The overall surge in the alt’s price recorded between July and September resulted in a 12% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) increase in the token’s circulating market capitalization. 

Source: Messari

While the blockchain recorded an uptick in demand for its native token, its “network activity metrics fell across the board in Q3,” Messari noted. 

Between July and September, the average count of daily transactions on XRPL totaled 1.06 million. This represented a drop of 9.1% (QoQ) from the 1.16 million recorded in Q2. Also, the count of daily active addresses “took a larger decline,” plummeting by 19% from 54,000 to 44,000 during the period under review.

According to Messari:

“Average daily values for transactions and all types of active addresses reached yearly lows in Q3.”

Some respite?

Messari found that during the period under review, the protocol’s non-fungible token (NFT) vertical experienced some growth. 

Between July and September, the average count of daily NFT transactions completed on XRPL climbed by 7.3%. 

Of all these transactions, NFTokenBurn – transactions used to remove an NFToken object from the NFTokenPage in which it is being held – was the “fastest-growing transaction” as it increased by 135%.

Source: Messari

Transactions to create new NFTs trailed behind, surging by 13% during the quarter, the report added. 

“Other NFT transaction types — NFTokenCreateOffer, NFTokenAcceptOffer, and NFTokenCancelOffer — declined 7.0%, 7.4%, and 2.0% QoQ, respectively,” Messari added.

XRP amid current market rally

At press time, the protocol’s native token exchanged hands at $0.5453, according to data from CoinMarketCap. In the last week, the alt’s value has climbed by 6%.

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After the token’s price peaked at $0.58 on 24 October, it initiated a decline. An on-chain assessment of its network activity revealed a steady decline in new demand and the count of active addresses for XRP.

According to data from Santiment, the daily count of active addresses trading XRP has since fallen by 26%. Likewise, the number of new addresses created daily to trade the altcoin has since declined by 27%. 

Source: Santiment