XRP Price Rises In Face of Major Market Downswing

The price of XRP, the digital token that powers Ripple’s payment networks, has enjoyed an unexpected surge in recent days. Despite the crypto market taking a $16 billion tumble on October 11, the XRP price chart bucked the trend thanks to a new low. Following a fall to $0.37, the bulls came out in force and started to buy Ripple (XRP), keen to capitalise on the drop. With a wave of momentum behind it, the digital token broke the $0.40 support barrier and even enjoyed intraday trading highs of $0.44.

Bearish Trend Brings Out Bulls

Looking at the XRP price live on October 15, the upswing is showing no signs of stopping thanks to an 8.83% increase to $0.045 over a 24-hour period. Although XRP price swings aren’t uncommon, the latest push does suggest the cryptocurrency is gaining strength. With the market as a whole in the midst of a downturn, anything that breaks away from the pack has to be doing something right. In real terms, there haven’t been any practical changes for XRP and its majority stakeholder, Ripple, over the last few weeks.

However, what we do know is that momentum is building thanks to the impending release of xRapid. Although Ripple’s executives have remained cagey with regards to an actual release date, Sagar Sarbhai told CNBC in September that he is “confident” the payment system will go into commercial application before the close of 2018. With just over two months left on the clock, traders appear to be getting in on the ground floor early before the price of Ripple (i.e. XRP) surges. At this stage, XRP’s utility has only been proven in theory and by speculation. Even though reports over the summer claim that xRapid trials have been successful, we’ve yet to see proof on a commercial scale.

xRapid Excitement Ready to Climax

However, this fact alone has buoyed XRP price charts over the last few months. So, the implication is that people are already hyped about practical applications of XRP and xRapid. With that being the case, investors should become even more active when the product is finally on the market and major financial institutions start to use it. We already know that Ripple has relationships with major brands such as American Express. In recent days, we also learned that Santander has extended its relationship with the company and will use the One Pay FX platform for all payment settlements.

Although One Pay FX doesn’t use XRP tokens to facilitate cross-border transactions like xRapid does, it is decentralised. What’s more, Santander has been able to build the platform using Ripple’s expertise. Through this working relationship, there’s no reason the European bank couldn’t or wouldn’t want to use xRapid. If that happens, XRP will have a real-work use case to back up the theory behind it. For those looking at the price of XRP in dollars, that can only be a good thing and, perhaps, it’s the reason investors are looking to buy while it’s still cheap.

For the latest cryptocurrency news, join our Telegram!