XRP has surged up South Korea’s crypto trading charts, overtaking both bitcoin and ether on the country’s largest exchanges in the past day. On Upbit, XRP/KRW was the most-traded market over the past 24 hours at roughly $110.9 million, ahead of bitcoin at $88.6 million and ether at $67 million. On Bithumb, XRP/KRW traded about $41 million, ranking second behind tether and still above both bitcoin and ether. This burst of trading puts XRP at the center of Korea’s speculative attention, but it’s more a local signal than a broader global leadership switch. What’s just as remarkable is how XRP’s price has struggled to break out, even with all that activity.
The latest XRP candlestick shows price pinned at $1.43, with both support and resistance meeting at that level. Movement is tight and contained despite heavy volume.
The fresher signal is on the U.S. side: spot XRP ETFs took in $25.8 million. That matters because it points to a different kind of demand than the rapid-fire activity dominating Korean exchanges. Instead of just showing XRP is hot with short-term traders, the ETF bid suggests some capital is being allocated through a regulated wrapper as well. So the story is no longer only speculative churn in Korea — it’s that XRP is now attracting a second lane of buying from U.S. ETF investors at the same time.