XRP Flips Solana (SOL) to Become the Fourth-Largest Cryptocurrency

Previously, Solana dominated with 70-80% of the trading volume, but XRP now commands more than 50%. The surge follows a 13% increase in XRP price after the U.S. Securities

Recently, there has been a significant shift in trading volume among cryptocurrencies, with XRP now taking the lead from Solana.

This surge in XRP liquidity and trading volume follows a 13% increase in the price of the token after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped its lawsuit against Ripple Labs.

This legal win has certainly boosted investor confidence, which in turn has fueled speculation about the approval of an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF).

According to Kaiko, a leading blockchain analytics firm, the stellar increase in trading activity in Ripple cryptocurrency is not a temporary anomaly. The firm reported that XRP’s liquidity has also improved, with its 1% market depth now surpassing that of Solana.

The latest Solana news, in contrast, showcases the struggles of its futures ETF, which saw a lukewarm debut with just $12 million in trading volume. This is in stark contrast to the billions of dollars in volume that typically pass through the world’s largest stock ETFs on a single day.

Despite facing challenges in the past due to the SEC lawsuit, XRP has emerged as one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies in 2025. Whereas Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other big assets have seen price declines, XRP has managed to gain more than 18% year-to-date.

This stellar performance has pushed up XRP’s market cap to new heights, now positioning it as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency at a value of $142 billion.

At the same time, bad luck continues to haunt Solana. The newest Solana news suggests its market capitalization has declined more than any other of the top 10 cryptocurrencies, aside from Ethereum and Dogecoin.

Network congestion and the controversy surrounding Solana blockchain-based meme coins in early 2024 did not help and have affected the sentiment of investors.

However, Solana (SOL) price was up 1.21% in the last 24 hours at press time. It was trading at around $139.18.

Another major benefit XRP has over Solana is liquidity. According to Kaiko, XRP now enjoys significantly deeper liquidity than Solana, meaning it can soak up larger trades with less price impact. It takes approximately $3.2 million of XRP trades to move its price by 1%, compared to Solana, where $2.8 million is required to achieve a 1% price change.

On the inflows front, XRP has been the clear victor among the altcoins. The latest Ripple XRP news highlights that the token saw $6.71 million in inflows last week, placing it ahead of Solana’s $6.44 million inflows.

However, Ethereum saw an outflow of $86 million, which is an indication of the ongoing concerns regarding the altcoin’s performance.

The SEC Ripple lawsuit caseload has significantly increased the odds of an XRP ETF approval. Data from the prediction market Polymarket shows that the likelihood of an XRP spot ETF being approved by the end of 2025 has surged to 83%.

This follows the recent development where the SEC dropped its lawsuit against Ripple Labs.

Recently, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse hinted that multiple XRP ETF applications, including leveraged and inverse products, are currently pending regulatory approval.

However, institutional interest in Solana ETFs has been underwhelming. CME Group’s launch of Solana futures on March 18 failed to gain significant traction, with lower-than-expected levels of participation from institutions.

The latest Solana news suggests that while retail traders are showing interest in the crypto space, the lack of institutional demand has dampened the enthusiasm surrounding Solana’s ETF prospects.