<p>Ripple has reported a nearly 100% increase in XRP sales for the first quarter of 2021 despite its ongoing legal battle with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).</p> <p>Ripple's <a href="https://ripple.com/insights/q1-2021-xrp-markets-report/">XRP sales</a> went up to $150 million in Q1 2021 compared to $76 million in Q4 2020, an increase of 97%. Ripple said its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service contributed to the jump. ODL helps Ripple clients to settle cross-border payments via XRP without pre-funding.</p> <p>Ripple said it saw "deeper engagement from key ODL customers" in the first quarter. For over a year, Ripple has not sold XRP programmatically, i.e., to cryptocurrency exchanges.</p> <p><iframe frameborder="0" height="420" src="https://embed.theblockcrypto.com/data/crypto-markets/public-companies/net-xrp-sales-by-ripple-quarterly/embed" title="Net XRP Sales by Ripple (Quarterly)" width="100%"></iframe></p> <p>The surge in XRP sales comes despite Ripple's ongoing legal fight with the SEC. Last December, the agency <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/88912/sec-ripple-labs-lawsuit-filed-2">sued Ripple</a> and two of its executives — CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chairman Chris Larsen — alleging that they illegally raised over $1.3 billion selling XRP, an unregistered security.</p> <p>Ripple is defending itself and says the lawsuit has caused "havoc" for U.S. XRP holders, developers, and small businesses that use and rely on XRP and the XRP Ledger.</p>