30s Summary

XRP and Dogecoin (DOGE) have seen a surge on South Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb, recording significantly higher trading volumes than Bitcoin. Over the past weeks, XRP and DOGE’s prices increased by over 100%, potentially due to positive U.S. regulation changes and endorsements from figures like Elon Musk. XRP accounted for 30% and DOGE 20% of trading volumes on these exchanges. However, there is speculation that some of these gains may be due to ‘wash trading’. Despite this, these currencies’ strong performance and high demand in South Korea may indicate further market growth.

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XRP and Dogecoin (DOGE) have been getting a lot of attention on South Korean exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb, with way more trading volumes than Bitcoin. In the past couple of weeks, XRP and DOGE have both seen their prices go up by more than 100%, thanks to things like favourable changes in U.S. regulations for XRP, and shout-outs from people like Elon Musk for DOGE.

Though this high demand in South Korea might look like a market frenzy, XRP’s consistent price of over $1 implies that it could continue to grow. The data from CoinGecko shows that on Upbit, South Korea’s biggest exchange, and on Bithumb, XRP and DOGE made up as much as 30% and 20% of trading volumes respectively in the past 24 hours. This is unusually higher than Bitcoin, which normally leads the pack.

It’s worth noting though that some of these trading volumes could be due to ‘wash trading’ – basically, using automated programs to repeatedly trade a token, which makes it look like there’s a lot of trading going on. Upbit, for instance, had the highest XRP volumes in dollar terms globally in the past 24 hours, even outdoing exchanges like Binance and Coinbase.

Both XRP and DOGE have been the top performers over the past weeks as Bitcoin hit new all-time highs. The gains in XRP began last week, likely due to the shifting U.S. regulatory environment which seems to favour tokens associated with companies that have had issues with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – like XRP, which is closely linked with Ripple Labs.

DOGE, on the other hand, got a boost from the Republican party’s recent win in the U.S. elections, and a fresh promotional drive by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been named the head of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E) under a Trump administration.

South Korean traders are known in crypto circles for their role in driving up prices during market rallies. So this high attention from South Korean markets could be a sign of a market top for these tokens – sort of a market froth indicator. Nevertheless, CoinDesk’s markets analyst Omkar Godbole still sees potential for growth in XRP prices in the near future. As of last Wednesday, XRP traded just over $1 and DOGE, just under 40 cents.