The Ripple price (XRP/USD) has surpassed $1.70 for the first time after surging more than 30% over past 24 hours.

The third-largest cryptocurrency on the market touched the $1.50 level during yesterday’s afternoon trading, but the rally slowed down towards the end of the session. Still, the cryptocurrency ended the session with a record close of $1.43, from where it was able to continue its advance on Friday.

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According to data from cryptocurrency tracker Coinmarketcap, the Ripple price is currently hovering at fresh all-time highs of $1.74, while the coin’s 24-hour trading volume has surged to $3.7 billion. Nearly half of that volume has been generated on the three leading Souh Korean exchanges – Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit – where the prices have soared to over $1.80.

Ripple’s current rally follows recent news that Tokyo-based financial services company SBI Holdings and its subsidiary SBI Ripple Asia are establishing a “consortium” with a number of Japanese credit card companies to utilise distributed ledger technology.

Ripple is one of the biggest gainers on the cryptocurrency market this year, surging more than 25,000% since January 1. This month alone, the cryptocurrency has risen from $0.25 to its current highs of over $1.70. The December rally was largely driven by news that the Japan Bank Consortium – a coalition of 61 Japanese financial institutions, organised by SBI Ripple Asia – had launched a new cross-border payment trial with two of South Korea’s largest banks. The pilot utilises Ripple’s distributed ledger technology.

In today’s trading, the Ripple price stood at $1.74, as of 10:38 GMT. The cryptocurrency has gained 30.2% in the past 24 hours and its market capitalisation currently stands at $67.3 billion.

For further information on how to buy and trade Ripple, see our comprehensive Ripple guide.