The past couple of days have seen market corrections across the board as Bitcoin and its altcoin brethren pull back from all-time highs earlier in the week. As panic and hysteria ripples through social media crypto groups, largely populated by inexperienced traders, those holding Ripple have reason to smile.
Ripple’s XRP token has surpassed Bitcoin Cash by market capacity in the past few hours, surging 28% to an all-time peak of $1.38. At the time of writing, it is in third place in the crypto charts, boasting a market cap of $46.4 billion, ahead of BCH with its $44.3 billion.
One in Five
Four of the top five cryptocurrencies have been suffering an attack of the bears for the past day or so, except XRP, which is extremely bullish.
Since the end of May, Ripple had been slumbering in a channel between $0.15 and $0.28. There had been no momentum in either direction, and many had almost written off the altcoin. Things started to happen around December 12th when key resistance was broken, and XRP headed towards its previous high back in May of $0.40.
This month alone, it has jumped almost 475% from $0.24 at the beginning of December to a Ripple record of $1.38 a couple of hours ago, according to Coinmarketcap. Around $3.6 billion have been traded in Ripple in the past 24 hours alone.
Asian Appetite
News that over 60 banks in Japan and South Korea would be using the Ripple blockchain to test inter-bank transfers sent the price soaring last week. Over a quarter of all crypto trade volume comes from these two countries alone, so it is pretty obvious where the impetus has come from. Ripple has been boosted recently by large trading volumes at South Korean exchange Bithumb and Hong Kong-based Bitfinex.
Additionally, news that XRP may be listed on Coinbase when it opens the platform to new altcoins next year would have also have an impact. Ripple is one of the oldest and most established of all cryptocurrencies, so investors have made it one of their targets for long trades. Once large exchanges such as Coinbase add support for altcoins, their exposure to the public is greatly increased. The easier it is to buy them, the more volume we will see.
Many are skeptical about Ripple due to its involvement with traditional banking institutions, but they will be taking notice now as it is the only green coin in a sea of red today.
Does XRP go against crypto ethos or would you buy it? How do you explain its surge while other coins fall? Tell us your thoughts below.
Images courtesy of Pexels, Coinmarketcap, and Bitcoinist archives.