Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market recorded strong gains after Ripple scored a victory against securities regulators on July 13.
As of 20:30 UTC, Bitcoin (BTC) had gained 4.3% over 24 hours, reaching a market value of $31,594.31 and a market capitalization of $613.8 billion. This change represents an over-year high, as the asset has not seen comparable prices since June 2022.
Ethereum (ETH), meanwhile, gained 6.9% over 24 hours to a market capitalization of $239.8 billion. Its price briefly exceeded $2,000.
These gains were likely influenced by the outcome of a legal case between Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in which the courts ruled that Ripple’s XRP sales are not securities. XRP itself gained 73% over 24 hours to reach a market capitalization of $42.6 billion, making it the 4th largest cryptocurrency at present.
At least two major crypto exchanges – Coinbase and Gemini – have decided to list or plan to list XRP after Ripple’s legal victory. These decisions could further support the price of the XRP token.
Three coins named in unrelated SEC cases against Coinbase and Binance are also among the biggest gainers today: Cardano (ADA) rose 19.5%, Solana (SOL) rose 17.3% and Polygon ( MATIC) increased by 17.8%. These gains are perhaps due to a more general optimism that it is possible for crypto companies to win lawsuits against regulators.
Various other assets also recorded gains. Stellar (XLM), which has early ties to Ripple but is otherwise an independent project, saw gains of 62.4%. The broader crypto market gained 6.5% over 24 hours to a total market capitalization of $1.3 trillion.
Liquidations reach $236 million
Meanwhile, the crypto market saw $238.37 million in liquidations over a 24-hour period. This total includes $52.01 million in long liquidations and $186.36 million in short liquidations. Around 66,800 traders were liquidated in total.
Three assets have experienced the most liquidations. Bitcoin saw $55.67 million in liquidations, Ethereum saw $37.81 million in liquidations, and XRP saw $47.97 million in liquidations.
Binance was responsible for $85.88 million in liquidations, while OKX was also responsible for $68.74 million in liquidations. Together, these two exchanges were responsible for roughly two-thirds of all liquidations in the cryptocurrency market.
Various other exchanges, including Bybit, Huobi, and CoinEX, were responsible for the remainder of these liquidations, as noted below:
The day’s events represent rare positive news amid the crypto industry’s latest bear market. Although the wider implications of the Ripple affair are not yet clear, the latest developments seem to have generated optimism among cryptocurrency investors.
