Digital currency Ripple (XRP) enjoyed a bull market run during Christmas week, with a massive 35% increase in value on December 29th alone. On the following day, XRP was trading at up to $2.45 and occupied second ranking by market cap after Bitcoin in the cryptocurrency market as a whole, with a total value approaching $95bn. 

The huge spike follows the coin\'s first milestone only a week previously when it broke the $1 barrier. After a temporary dip in price on December 22nd, XRP quickly rallied, rising 57% on that day and performing strongly in the ensuing week. The XRP token is used for transactions on the cryptocurrency network of RippleNet, a San Francisco-based start-up and had seen very little activity up to this point. During the second six months of 2017, the coin rode the market at a steady $0.20, so this sudden burst of activity shows an unusual level of market interest. 

This may be due to activity on the South Korean exchanges, where the majority of global trading activity in XRP originated and could be a response to the SK government\'s plans to impose restrictions on cryptocurrency market speculation. Korbit, Coinone and Bithumb, three of the country\'s principal exchanges which each devote more than half their trade to XRP, accounted for 2.07%, 7.3% and 31.5% respectively of worldwide XRP trading on December 29th.