XRP, the payment-focused cryptocurrency, recently experienced a significant surge in investor interest, leading its perpetual futures trading volume on the U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken to surpass that of Solana (SOL) for the first time. This marks a notable shift in the altcoin market.
In the past month, XRP perpetuals on Kraken reached $3.48 billion in trading volume, outperforming Solana's $3.23 billion. This increased activity coincided with a 40% jump in XRP's spot price to $3.66, while SOL saw a more modest 17% increase to $181.
According to Alexia Theodorou, Kraken's head of derivatives, several factors are contributing to XRP's renewed momentum. These include increased investor confidence in XRP, optimism surrounding a more crypto-friendly administration under President Donald Trump, and the resolution of the SEC lawsuit against Ripple (the company behind XRP). Theodorou specifically highlighted XRP's strong performance, noting its rise from $0.50 before the 2024 election to its recent all-time high, indicating it has benefited most from the current pro-crypto sentiment in the U.S.
XRP is also showing dominance in overall market metrics, boasting a market capitalization of $184 billion, significantly higher than Solana's $97 billion. However, despite XRP's lead in market cap and recent trading volume, SOL still holds a greater total open interest in futures contracts. Coinglass reports SOL futures with $10.69 billion in open interest compared to XRP's $8.53 billion. Looking solely at Kraken, SOL has $55 million in open contracts versus XRP's $34 million. This discrepancy suggests that while more traders might be actively buying and holding XRP, SOL still exhibits more speculative trading activity.
Despite the recent altcoin shifts, Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to hold the largest open interest globally, far surpassing any other altcoins. Nevertheless, XRP's recent surge points to evolving trader sentiment within the broader altcoin market.
July 2025, Cryptoniteuae