Investing.com - XRP surged 30% on Friday on optimism that Ripple is likely to launch a service that would use the virtual coin “in the next month or so.”
Bitcoin traded 2.5% higher to $6,553.3 at 12:10AM ET (04:10 GMT) on the Bitifinex exchange.
Ethereum surged 7% to $224.03 in the previous 24 hours.
XRP spiked 29.3% to $0.45512 on the Poloniex exchange, while Litecoin also rose 6.1% at $57.262.
XRP has spiked as much as 43% this week amid the news. The new product, called xRapid, allows financial companies to speed up money transfers into emerging markets using XRP.
The company does not have an official commercial release timeline at this point, Ripple’s spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Ripple’s current main product, xCurrent, does not require the use of XRP, Bloomberg reported citing Lucas Nuzzi, director of technology at Digital Asset Research.
"xRapid, on the other hand, leverages this commutation system to allow institutions to settle inter-bank transactions using the XRP digital asset," he said. "The use of XRP is mandatory with this product."
In other news, the potential launch of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are apparently delayed again as U.S. regulators are currently seeking comments on a listing request, Bloomberg reported citing a filing by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The agency is inviting views on market manipulation, as well as surveillance, according to the filing.