On the XRP Ledger (XRPL), the so-called “rush hour” phenomenon is becoming more pronounced, with weekday on-chain transactions concentrating in specific time periods. The share of trading during a three-hour window when the London and New York financial markets overlap has risen sharply over the past year, prompting analysis that XRPL’s trading patterns are becoming similar to those of traditional financial markets.

According to blockchain media outlet U.Today on Monday, Japan’s Evernode used Dune Analytics to analyse XRPL on-chain data and confirmed that weekday XRP trading concentrates between 13:00 and 16:00 UTC.

Evernode’s July 2026 report said transactions during those three hours accounted for 23.5 percent of total weekday on-chain XRP trading volume. The share for the same time period in 2025 was 14.3 percent, an increase of 9.2 percentage points in a year.

The peak concentration was at 14:00 UTC. Evernode explained that a separate surge period that was not seen in 2025 has newly formed.

This differs somewhat from the typical trading pattern in cryptocurrency markets, which operate 24 hours a day. The 13:00 to 16:00 UTC window overlaps London and New York business hours and is also a key period when liquidity concentrates in the global foreign exchange market.

Evernode assessed that XRP’s trading pattern is gradually becoming more similar to this schedule in traditional financial markets. It analysed that the clear emergence of a rush hour could be a signal that major financial institutions have begun using XRPL at scale and in a systematic way.

The rise in trading volume was not limited to a specific area. Liquidity increased simultaneously across multiple parts of XRPL, including traditional limit order books, automated market maker (AMM) pools and cross-border payment gateways.

Among them, cross-border payment gateways are an area where XRP is used as a bridge asset to quickly convert between different fiat currencies. Therefore, the increase in trading during this window is interpreted as an indicator that may show a link not only to speculative trading but also to actual payment demand.

Evernode pointed out that even if digital asset networks are open 24 hours a day, companies and financial institutions tend to operate in line with existing business hours. It said that as institutional and corporate use increases on XRPL, such commercial activity patterns are being reflected in on-chain data.

In particular, the 13:00 to 16:00 UTC period accounts for only about 9 percent of total weekly time, but 23.5 percent of weekday daily on-chain XRP trading volume was concentrated in that window. That means the phenomenon of trading focusing on a limited period of the day has become clear.

Evernode assessed that this concentration is a signal of the network maturity of XRPL. For institutional participants, a market where liquidity concentrates at certain times is relatively easier to forecast and manage for trading and settlement activity.

Ultimately, the key shown by this data is that the way XRP is traded itself is changing, rather than changes in XRP’s price. If trading continues to concentrate during the overlap of the London and New York financial markets, XRPL could shift from a 24-hour blockchain network to a structure closer to financial infrastructure through which institutional funds and global payment demand move.