XRP Ledger activity surges amidst Musk’s ‘individual freedom’ comments

•  Elon Musk’s comments on crypto boosts market confidence, causing XRP and Ethereum to rise.
• The XRP Ledger saw increased wallet activity amid SEC’s appeal against Ripple Labs.

Elon Musk, the renowned tech entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has consistently championed Dogecoin [DOGE], often using his platform to endorse his favorite cryptocurrency.

But after facing allegations of defrauding investors through purported manipulation of DOGE and insider trading, which led to substantial financial losses in the billions, Musk chose to take a step back.

However, on the 29th of August, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan dismissed the federal lawsuit against him.

Despite this dismissal, Musk maintained his stance against promoting cryptocurrencies.

Musk’s mention of XRP sparks debate

Just when the waters seemed calm, Elon Musk reignited controversies by referencing the Ripple [XRP]-affiliated cryptocurrency XRP during a town hall meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This happened during a recent rally for Donald Trump, wherein an audience member inquired about the SEC’s adversarial approach to crypto under the Biden administration and whether Musk envisions the XRP Ledger being adopted by financial institutions in the future.

Replying to this, Musk said, 

“This is definitely not an endorsement or lack of endorsement for XRP, but I do think crypto by its very nature helps with individual freedom.”

Musk’s actual crypto endorsements and their impact

This is probably the same event, at which Musk expressed his support by donning a signature ‘Make America Great Again’ cap and referring to himself as ‘Dark MAGA.’ 

“As you can see, I am not just MAGA, I’m dark MAGA.” 

As a result, the price of MAGA surged by 20%, while Dark MAGA (DMAGA) skyrocketed an impressive 227%, reaching approximately $0.0073. 

Well, it was not only with DOGE and DMAGA, but Musk has been involved in the promotion of various other cryptocurrencies.

For instance, previously he shared a post on X featuring the frog-themed cryptocurrency Pepe [PEPE], which led to a remarkable 23% price surge.

Impact on XRP as a whole

However, here it’s important to note that rather than addressing XRP specifically, Musk offered his thoughts on cryptocurrencies as a whole.

He described them as an “interesting and likely valuable safeguard against centralized control,” highlighting their potential role in promoting financial independence.

However, despite lacking a direct endorsement of XRP, Elon Musk’s remarks about cryptocurrencies have sparked a positive ripple effect across the market, with Ethereum [ETH] leading altcoins with a 4% rise.

Other cryptocurrencies have also seen similar gains.

According to the latest data from CoinMarketCap, XRP was trading at $0.5542, reflecting a 2.41% increase in the past 24 hours and a 3% gain over the week.  

Additionally, recent data from Santiment revealed a significant increase in activity on the XRP Ledger, with daily active wallets reaching a three-month high of 35,799 unique addresses engaged in at least one XRP transfer.

As expected, the XRP Ledger saw the creation of 3,858 new wallets in just one day, marking the highest number of new wallets recorded in over seven months.

What lies ahead?

This uptick coincides with the SEC filing a ‘Civil Appeal Pre-Argument Statement’ against Ripple Labs, indicating its intention to contest a previous court ruling in the ongoing case. 

That being said, while Musk did not provide a direct endorsement of XRP, his mention of the cryptocurrency could positively influence the ongoing case against the SEC.

Ergo, this renewed attention may pave the way for brighter days ahead for XRP, which had been struggling in a bearish market for an extended period.