Monero’s XMR Rockets 40% as XRP Leads Crypto Majors Gains

Crypto markets rose Monday, with bitcoin (BTC) trading above $94,000 and the CoinDesk 20, a measure of the performance of the largest cryptocurrencies, adding 2.2% by the middle of the European morning.

XRP led majors' gains, rising almost 7%, driven by a ProShares ETF approval that will see three futures-tracked products go live on April 30. Cardano’s ADA gained more than 3% and BNB Chain’s BNB added 1%. Ether ETH$3,034.61 was unchanged.

One exception to the relatively dormant market was privacy coin monero XMR$386.67, which surged more than 40% to as high as $371, a level not seen since May 2021. It was recently trading around $264, up 15% over 24 hours.

Trading volumes zoomed from an average of $50 million on a seven-day rolling basis to over $220 million in the past 24 hours.

The behavior likely followed a possible exploit. On-chain research ZachXBT identified a "suspicious transfer" of 3,520 BTC ($330.7 million) that was then swapped into XMR. The sudden increase in demand for the relatively illiquid token caused the price to spike, ZachXBT said in post on X.

The privacy-centric token is based on the CryptoNote protocol, which ensures that all its transactions are unlinkable and untraceable.

Macroeconomic Headwinds

Sentiment among traders carried over from last week with a near-term bullish view intact but with a cautious attitude as macroeconomic headwinds remain.

“Bitcoin has maintained a relatively stable range above $92k as Trump's administration soften tariff policies of the crypto industry,” Jupiter Zheng, Partner, Liquid Fund and Research, HashKey Capital, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message. “This crypto-friendly attitude can boost Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to develop their own market direction, less correlated with US equities, and enable more growth and innovation in the industry."

Broader equity markets showed mixed movements on Monday. A regional gauge advanced 0.6% while futures for the S&P 500 declined 0.6%, indicating a four-day US equities rally may snap. Gold pared last week’s gains after a record-breaking rally. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was also flat as were other major indexes around Asia.

UPDATE (April 28, 9:25 UTC): Adds possible exploit as reason for XMR surge in fifth paragraph; updates prices.