The XRP Ledger (XRPL), operating for more than ten years, expanded its activity in several directions in the fourth quarter of 2023. As a result, the collective market value of tokens on the XRPL surged by 47% quarter-over-quarter to $169 million, as per Messari’s recent report.

Currently, the XRPL hosts over 3,300 different assets. However, the primary token, SOLO, dominated the scene with a 45% share of the total market value. Together, the top three tokens commanded 67% of the total market capitalization.

XRP Leder Q4 2023

The XRP Ledger’s native token – XRP – stood as the sixth largest crypto asset by market capitalization, reaching $33.7 billion. Its circulating market cap surged by 21.2% quarter-over-quarter and by 93.6% year-over-year.

In the course of 2023, 4 billion XRP were distributed, which accounted for 8% of the XRP supply from the end of 2022. While this distribution contributed to the market cap’s growth, it wasn’t as significant as the boost from the spike in prices, Messari’s analysis revealed.

Network activity presented a mixed picture in Q4. Active addresses on XRPL decreased by 31.3% quarter-over-quarter, yet transactions increased by 22.7% during the same period. Interestingly, although existing users seemed more engaged, a significant portion of the transaction activity originated from a relatively small cluster of accounts sending transactions to a single account.

Meanwhile, NFT mints skyrocketed by 491% quarter-over-quarter, leading to a 170% increase in total NFT transactions. In Q4’23 alone, there were 3.4 million NFT mints, representing over half of all mints since the XLS-20 standard was introduced in 2022.

Payment in XRP

Earlier this month, it was revealed that the XRPL EVM sidechain validators will be compensated in the form of XRP. This was disclosed by Ferran Prat Tió, the co-founder and CEO of Peersyst Technology, the company responsible for the XRPL Ledger EVM-compatible sidechain.

The EVM sidechain, which is linked to XRPL through a bridge, operates as an independent network distinct from XRPL and RippleNet. It functions as a side chain enabling Ethereum operations while utilizing XRP as its native token.