$2.6 Trillion ‘Glitch’ Causes Crypto Price Chaos After XRP-Led Bitcoin And Ethereum Boom

12 August 2023

in XRP

Reading Time: 5 mins read

BitcoinBTC, ethereum, XRPXRP and other major cryptocurrencies have been reinvigorated this year (with a game-changing China earthquake on the horizon).

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The bitcoin price has almost doubled since the beginning of 2023, triggering a flurry of huge bitcoin price predictions that could be about to blow up the crypto market, while ethereum and XRP have both surged along with other top ten cryptocurrencies.

Now, a price “glitch” has caused Ripple’s XRP—a top five cryptocurrency along with bitcoin, ethereum and Binance’s BNB—to briefly surge to $50 on crypto exchange Gemini, an increase of around 8,000% that gave XRP a greater market capitalization than bitcoin at $2.6 trillion.

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line with other exchanges after the sudden spike, while the bitcoin price and the ethereum price remained relatively flat.

dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

Crypto market watchers have speculated the price glitch could have been triggered by an XRP seller who placed a spoof order at $50 per XRP that was accidentally filled by a buyer. “Is this a glitch,” one X (Twitter) user asked.

The XRP price fell back to trade around 60 cents after remaining slightly elevated for a few hours.

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Low XRP exchange liquidity on Gemini, which only hours before relisted XRP, is also thought to have contributed to the sudden surge. Market data from Coingecko and reported by Coindesk shows only a $37,000 order would be required to move prices by 2% on Gemini, compared to $2.2 million on Binance.

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Gemini and many other crypto exchanges delisted XRP after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued developer Ripple, chief executive Brad Garlinghouse and cofounder Chris Larsen in December 2020, accusing them of illegally raising more than $1.3 billion in an unregistered securities offering by selling XRP.

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after struggling through the last bitcoin, ethereum and crypto price bull market.

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Crypto exchanges have rushed to relist XPR following a July ruling that was claimed as a win by Ripple, with a federal judge ruling that the “offer and sale of XRP on digital asset exchanges did not amount to offers and sales of investment contracts.” The SEC has since said it will appeal the decision, while another judge rejected the earlier XRP ruling, throwing the decision into doubt.

The XRP price failed to keep pace with bitcoin, ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies through the huge 2021 bull run due to the SEC lawsuit.

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I am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business around the world. As the founding editor of Verdict.co.uk I reported on how technology is changing business, political trends, and the latest culture and lifestyle. I have covered the rise of bitcoin and cryptocurrency since 2012 and have charted its emergence as a niche technology into the greatest threat to the established financial system the world has ever seen and the most important new technology since the internet itself. I have worked and written for CityAM, the Financial Times, and the New Statesman, amongst others. Follow me on Twitter @billybambrough or email me on billyATbillybambrough.com.
Disclosure: I occasionally hold some small amount of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.