XRP remains one of the most popular altcoins of the past 4 years, yet price action has slowed — will XRP ever grow majorly in price again?
XRP is the native token of a digital payment platform called RippleNet and is the 6th largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
XRP has consistently been in the top 10 cryptocurrencies since 2018, yet it has been one of the most poor performing altcoins.
XRP is currently down 78.8% from its all-time high of US$3.40 ($4.32 AUD) on Jan 7. 2018 and is currently down 15.9% year-to-date (YTD).
Experts remain staunchly divided on XRP, with some analysts suggesting that XRP lacks the necessary fundamentals to grow substantially in price from here.
While 2022 continues to be a rough year for crypto investors, XRP has held more ground than its other large-cap counterparts, only down 15.9% year-to-date (YTD), compared to the overall crypto market which is down 24.6% YTD. As of today, XRP trades for US$0.71 ($0.98 AUD) per token and is ranked as the 6th largest cryptocurrency by market cap. XRP remains one of the most well-established & widely used digital assets in the cryptocurrency industry.
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What Is XRP?
Before we can properly dive into an in-depth analysis of XRP, we need to clear up any potential confusion concerning the difference between XRP, RippleNet and Ripple.
As mentioned earlier, XRP is the Ripple ecosystem’s native token. RippleNet is the digital payment network that runs on a public distributed ledger (slightly different from a blockchain), called XRP Ledger. Ripple itself is a for-profit company that controls the growth and development of RippleNet.
Most investors aren’t aware that the idea behind Ripple and XRP actually predates Bitcoin and cryptocurrency altogether. In 2004, John Fugger launched a peer-to-peer (P2P) financial network called RipplePay. Fugger’s goal was to eliminate the need for banks by creating a “trustless” exchange of money on the internet.
However, it wasn’t until August 2012, when Jed McCaleb, an early Bitcoin pioneer — realized that RipplePay could potentially solve many of the concerns he had with Bitcoin and approached Fugger to turn RipplePay into a crypto network. Since then, XRP has continued to specialize in facilitating, fast and efficient cross-border transfer of money with large financial institutions around the world.
XRP News & Information 2022
Unlike other cryptocurrencies, which are more decentralized in nature, XRP’s price action tends to be majorly correlated with news concerning it’s parent company Ripple. Therefore, the growth of XRP is largely dependent on the partnerships that Ripple can forge with traditional institutions.
Since December 2020, Ripple has been embroiled in a legal case with the SEC. The claim is that Ripple traded $1.3 billion in their cryptocurrency XRP without ever registering the digital asset as a security with the SEC. The case is still underway, and the outcome could have major consequences for the price of XRP.
Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse remains incredibly optimistic about the future for XRP, stating that he plans to take the company public following the conclusion of the lawsuit. The numbers from Ripple’s fourth-quarter report are undeniably positive:
“2021 was RippleNet’s most successful and lucrative year to date as global momentum skyrocketed with customer demand despite the headwinds from the SEC,” states the report.
“The number of transactions on RippleNet more than doubled, with a payment volume run rate of over $10B… and with over 20 payout markets for On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) … RippleNet continues to see more global demand for the product, states the report,” it continues.
When looking at how XRP behaves in relation to the crypto market — Price analysis from Capital.com shows that XRP tends to follow the general direction of the broader market. The price of XRP spiked to US$1.96 ($2.71 AUD) in mid-April 2021 when the crypto market rallied — reaching its highest point since it’s original all-time-high of US$3.40 ($4.32 AUD) in the previous market rally in Jan. 2018. Unfortunately for XRP enthusiasts, the token has failed to perform as strongly as other altcoins in recent rallies.
XRP Short Term Price Prediction (1 Month)
The short-term outlook for XRP is bearish, with analysts from FX Street reporting that a large sell-off could be just around the corner. If XRP fails to hold steady arounds it current support level of US$0.74 ($1.02 AUD) then investors can expect a further 17% drop from here.
Seeing as XRP is currently trading for US$0.71 ($0.98 AUD) per token, it’s reasonable to expect that the price will continue to slide in the short-term. However, if XRP can close above US$0.81 ($1.12 AUD) consistently over the coming days, the possibility of an upswing to US$0.86 ($1.19 AUD) is possible.
XRP 1-Year Price Prediction (2022)
Any long-term price prediction for XRP is somewhat contentious, because a lot of XRP’s future price action will be dependent on the outcome of the SEC lawsuit. If the SEC finds no wrongdoing or XRP can reach some form of settlement, the price of XRP should remain relatively stable.
However, if the outcome of the trial finds Ripple guilty of a securities violation, then the impact may have a negative impact on the immediate price of XRP. Furthermore the flow-on effect from a guilty verdict would have broader repercussions for the entire crypto market, concerning the regulation of cryptocurrencies.
Mid-term technical analysis for XRP from both TradingView and CoinCodex remains bearish, with most indicators leaning towards a negative price sentiment for the coming months.
The overall analysis of XRP remains bullish for the long-term with automated analysis from WalletInvestor predicting that XRP could feasibly reach a price of US$1.28 ($1.77 AUD) by the end of 2022.
Technical analysis from DigitalCoin is slightly less bullish, predicting that XRP will reach a price of approximately US$1.14 ($1.58 AUD) by the end of this year. It further predicts that XRP could reach $1.34 by the end of 2023.
PricePrediction was also bullish in its expectations, predicting the XRP coin to average $1.22 in 2022
XRP 5-Year Price Prediction (2026)
For the long-term, DigitalCoin suggests that XRP should reach an average price of US$1.47 ($2.03 AUD) in 2026 and reach US$3.44 ($4.76 AUD by 2030.
The experts at PricePrediction are far more bullish, predicting that XRP will reach $4.78 in 2026, and continue to grow to a more substantial price of approximately $24 by 2030.
When looking at automated technical analysis, it’s important to remember that the high volatility of the crypto market makes it extremely difficult to accurately predict long-term prices.
How To Buy XRP
If you decide to go ahead and purchase XRP, you can do so on almost all major crypto exchanges. The one main exception here is Coinbase, which has delisted the token from its platform pending the outcome of the SEC trial.
If you’re already purchasing crypto like a pro and you feel comfortable with the more technical exchanges you can also find ONE on Binance & KuCoin. All legitimate crypto exchanges and platforms will require you to go through some form verification process that will ask you to provide a phone number, email address or upload ID documentation. Always make sure that the platform you purchase crypto on is secure.
XRP Price Prediction Conclusion
XRP has an extremely strong foundation, owing to its parent company, Ripple, forging partnerships with large financial institutions and consistently pioneering new use-cases for cryptocurrency in international banking. XRP is also one of the few digital assets with an extremely clear use that crosses over into the world of traditional finance. This makes XRP an attractive prospect for investors who believe in Ripple’s ability to improve and grow its customer base over time.
Owing to its current status as the 6th largest cryptocurrency, flexing a substantial market cap of US$34.4 billion ($47.6 billion AUD), it is unlikely that you’ll ever 100X your money with XRP.
Furthermore, XRP’s continued tenuous situation with the SEC makes investing in the cryptocurrency slightly more risky for the everyday investor. If the outcome of the investigation is negative, it’s expected that XRP will suffer substantial losses.
Even though XRP is more risk-oriented than other digital assets, it has all of the necessary underlying fundamentals to grow sustainably into the future, especially if CEO Brad Garlinghouse comes good on his promise to take the company public.