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When the crypto market plummeted roughly 100% in value over the last six months, where does that leave altcoin Ripple (XRP)?
Here, turn to the screener platform at Coinwatch.com to discover the latest crypto market data. Let’s take a closer look.
Regarding the crypto space, crypto mobile-based app Abra CEO Bill Barhydt spotlights a real “opportunity” here. “I talk to hedge funds, high net worth individuals, even commodity speculators. They look at the volatility in the crypto markets and they see it as a huge opportunity. Once that happens, all hell will break loose,” Barhydt noted, adding: “Once the floodgates are opened, they’re opened.”
One key gate that just “opened” for XRP: U.S. independent rating agency Weiss Ratings. The agency just dished a tweet calling XRP “the fastest digital asset to transfer funds between exchanges.” Therefore, shouldn’t XRP be on crypto exchange giant Binance?
Weiss Ratings tweeted: “It only makes sense for #Binance to use it as the base #currency – why should one have to go through an intermediary currency to trade?”
Crypto Hits ‘Panic’
That said, it was a rocky Tuesday for the crypto universe. The market went from $206 billion on Monday on a nosedive down to $190 billion by Tuesday. In other words, around $16 billion wiped clean from cryptocurrency. Bitcoin (BTC) went from a $6483 high Monday to around $5948, a sharp 8% loss in value. If crypto’s biggest coin was draining value yesterday, that clearly bodes trouble for the rest of the alt-coins.
As of the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP, the third leading crypto coin – and second leading altcoin – has dipped to $0.28 with a $10.91 billion market cap. XRP went crashing from a $0.3057 high on Monday down to a low of $0.253 by Tuesday- 17% in value erased within 24 hours. Meanwhile, that’s a looming over 90% drop from the heyday of January 6, where XRP boasted a price of $2.78.
Matthew Newton, analyst at global investment platform eToro believes: “The crypto market seems to have hit panic mode, with prices falling significantly across the board.”
A downturn in the market bodes poorly for an alt coin like XRP- so says CEO of crypto fund of hedge funds BitBull Capital Joe DiPasquale. “When the market is down, the larger players in crypto have thinner pockets for alternative coins,” DiPasquale explains. “The market is still majority retail investors who sell on lows.”
Notably, second biggest blockchain Ethereum (ETH) also took a hit Tuesday. From Monday’s high of $319.63 to Tuesday’s low of $253.88 stands a stark over 20% difference in value. That said, June proved to be a positive month for ETH. Here’s why: the Securities and Exchange Commission clarified that as far as the agency is concerned, Ether is not judged as a security.
Meanwhile, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse has asserted that “XRP is not a security” and top Ripple execs say the coin is “absolutely not a security.” Yet, the SEC has yet to publicly declare whether the token is a security or not. Clarity here could prove to be a big impact on XRP’s price, just as it was for ETH. The question remains as to how the SEC will rule and how the public will react.
The Banks Are Coming
Garlinghouse maintains that a bright future lies ahead for Ripple. In an interview at the Money 20/20 Europe fintech conference, Garlinghouse made a bold prediction to CNBC: “I’ve publicly stated that by the end of this year I have every confidence that major banks will use XRapid as a liquidity tool.” Ripple’s CEO wagers that “…by the end of next year, I would certainly hope that we would see you know in the order of… dozens.”
The Ripple team also has eyes on the lucrative Chinese market, which is “definitely a target,” according to Ripple’s VP of EU strategic accounts Jeremy Light. Light told CNBC “China is definitely of interest,” and “definitely a country and region of interest” to Ripple.
This aim is less about ramping XRP’s adoption, considering Beijing has tight reigns on virtual currency trading. 2017 saw China ban initial coin offerings. Rather, Ripple strives to reach the Chinese market through a different approach: its distributed ledger technology created to accelerate cross-border payments.
XRP investors are sure to see a fair share of turbulence beyond Tuesday’s slump. That said, if Garlinghouse is right, 2019 could tell a more bullish story. Especially if China gets behind Ripple’s tech, this altcoin has a fighting chance for monster success yet to be tapped.
The crypto market is always on the move- either up or down. We used the screener platform at Coinwatch.com to stay up to date on Ripple’s real-time data.