Radix (XRD), the native token of the Radix network, has been one of the best-performing altcoins in recent times, with a staggering price increase of 167% in the past 30 days. This impressive rally has helped to boost the market cap of the cryptocurrency to $1.1 billion, making it the 46th-largest token in the crypto space. In comparison, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), the blue-chip cryptocurrencies, have also recorded gains of 5.2% and 1.5%, respectively, over the past week.
However, the recent surge in the price of XRD has gone unnoticed in the headlines as they have been dominated by First Republic Bank’s ongoing crisis and the anticipated return of Bitcoin’s price to 30k. Nevertheless, this bullish run for XRD seems to have started early in the year, and the token has been experiencing a progressive climb ever since.
At the time of writing, XRD is valued at $0.111545, which represents a 5.1% price increase over the past 24 hours. This price upswing came with an increase in market capitalization, enabling Radix to break into the top 50 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. However, its trading volume slipped by 16.40% in the same period, indicating a recent dip in market activity.
The impending upgrade of Radix’s network, which is scheduled for July, seems to be the driving force behind the recent price rally of XRD. Markus Thielen, the head of research and strategy at Matrixport, believes that Radix’s March fundraiser and the highly anticipated upgrade have heightened interest in the XRD token. Price action reveals that XRD gained more than 15% on March 23, the day the fundraiser was announced. A week after, the coin experienced a remarkable price surge in the wake of the Release Candidate network (RCNet) rollout.
The mainnet upgrade, codenamed Babylon, is expected to launch on July 31 and introduce smart-contract functionality to the decentralized Radix network. This upgrade will enable developers to build robust and excellent decentralized applications, paving the way for global Web3 and DeFi to finally exit the ‘tech demo’ stage with a mainstream-capable user and developer experience. Furthermore, this upgrade will natively facilitate the liquid staking of XRD tokens through the issuance of Liquid Stake Unit tokens, meaning that there won’t be a need for other equivalent staking protocols, such as Lido.
Overall, the recent price rally of XRD and its impending upgrade indicate that the future looks bright for this cryptocurrency. The market performance of most altcoins seems to have gone unnoticed due to the ongoing crisis in the banking sector and the market’s focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, XRD could potentially hit new all-time highs with the launch of the Babylon network, making it a valuable investment opportunity for crypto investors looking to diversify their portfolios.
