XRP bulls assemble as XRPL upgrades to 2.1.0

• More than half of the validators upgraded to version 2.1.0 at press time.
• XRP bounced 8.51% on the announcement of the release.

Ripple’s [XRP] Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz asked validators and node operators of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) to upgrade to the latest version 2.1.0, the deadline for which was set to the 5th of March.

What does 2.1.0 bring to the table?

The new release included a bug fix, performance improvements, and two new amendments. The two new amendments were thrown open for voting.

Amendments are new features or changes to transaction processing.

As per the XRP Ledger’s amendment process, the amendments must maintain two weeks of support from more than 80% of trusted validators to be enabled.

If support drops below 80%, the amendment is temporarily rejected, and the two-week period restarts.

As of this writing, more than 50% of the validators have upgraded their servers to version 2.1.0, according to AMBCrypto’s scrutiny of XRPSCAN data.

Source: XRPScan

XRPL sees a drop in daily transactions

Launched in 2o12, the XRPL is a decentralized, open-source chain, powering cross-border payments, smart contracts, and digital currencies.

Like other blockchains, decentralization is achieved through the system of nodes and operators.

AMBCrypto noticed a sharp spike in transactions facilitated on the ledger in the last week of 2023, peaking at 6.9 million on New Year’s Eve.

However, since then, the daily count has progressively reduced, dropping to just 789k on the 2nd of March.

Source: XRPScan

XRP finally gains bullish strength

At the heart of XRPL was the $35 billion-worth XRP, ranked as the sixth-largest cryptocurrency at the time of writing, as per CoinMarketCap.

The announcement of the newest release seemed to have a positive impact on XRP, as it recorded impressive gains of 8.51% in the last 24 hours. The coin’s weekly chart was equally impressive, exhibiting returns of 17%.

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The latest rally comes following concerns about its lackluster performance vis-à-vis other leading coins in the market. The drop in network activity could have likely contributed to the downward pressure.

The price spike heightened speculative interest in the coin. As per AMBCrypto’s analysis of Coinglass’ data, the Open Interest (OI) in XRP futures jumped to a six-month high of $839 million at press time.

Source: Coinglass