Bitcoin may be entering a bull market, but Ripple is the top performer of the last few days, with a 22% gain in under 24 hours. Bitcoin still has the higher monthly gain, but Coinbase’s May 13th rollout of XRP trading to New York residents has created a massive bull rush for the cryptocurrency.
The interesting part about this is that Coinbase Pro had already rolled out XRP in February, but retail access creates such strong possible inflows that the price action can’t be helped. Coinbase may be the most “trustworthy” of all the cryptocurrency exchanges.
XRP is now trading around $0.43, which is a pleasant surprise for traders who have seen it moving sideways for some time now. The jump from the $0.30 price level to the $0.40’s represent year-to-date highs and a catch up to the rest of the crypto market.
The jump was caused by a severe increase in buying pressure, and now seems to be compensating well for its lackluster month. As Bitcoin tests the $8,000 range and other altcoins show depressions (partially due to Binance being inaccessible), XRP is looking good at their new level.
Where the increase in the price of Bitcoin can’t be explained by any single factor, Ripple’s increase has the Coinbase rollout to thank for it. This makes it seem like a much more sustainable price level. Although likely overbought (as is often the case in the crypto markets), I expect less of a pullback compared to other areas of the crypto market.
Other Shifts In the Market
In other related news, exchange-traded notes (ETNs) for XRP and LTC have been launched in Germany. These securities will allow Germans to track price changes in the coins through securities that are exchange-traded, which is a big deal for increasing cryptocurrency’s legitimacy in Germany and giving higher visibility to XRP.
On a fundamental level, interest cross-border payments is continuing to intensify. Saudi Arabia has just announced their interest in the platform, and one Ripple executive is turning blockchain into a nationalist issue. Comparing blockchain to 5G networks that are subject to foreign ownership:
“It’s important both for national security and from an economic perspective, that the U.S. is a leader in that.”
This is part of why we have seen the lobbying efforts around blockchain technology in Washington D.C. triple from 12 to 33 in the last year.
Funds Moving to Alts?
Ripple will begin to test the $0.50 range in the next few days, and a lot of its success will depend on what happens with Bitcoin’s current rally. The flow of funds and market sentiments for the entire industry is largely rooted how Bitcoin is doing, and that won’t stop anytime soon as we watch it continue to play out on eToro.
In addition to all this Ripple and Bitcoin price action, Ethereum is beginning to make big moves. It is now hovering around $230, which is still way lower than its all-time high of $1,400. One theory for traders is that with Bitcoin hovering around 50% of its all-time high, Ethereum is due for a pump just as Bitcoin corrects downwards. This makes sense when you analyze the flow of money and see that most people who have made big money on Bitcoin in the last few weeks would be remiss to keep their money in there for long. As a result, I could easily see that money shifting into altcoins and Ether.