The value of many altcoins has renewed record levels, while the Ripple coin is still trading several times below its peak. What is the reason for such dynamics and what are the prospects of the asset
XRP token from Ripple has been in the top 3 in terms of capitalization for a long time and was one of the leaders in the crypto market. Now the asset has dropped to seventh place in the ranking of the largest cryptocurrencies, ahead of projects that have updated historical highs in value this year.
For example, now in third place is the Binance Coin token, the price of which first rose to $ 691 in May, in November it reached $ 669, and now it is $ 537. Over the past year, the value of the altcoin of the largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume has grown by almost 1800%.
In fourth place is the USDT stablecoin – its value is always approximately equal to one dollar, so capitalization changes only due to the issue. The fifth line is the Solana project. In November, the altcoin renewed its all-time high at $ 259. Now it is trading at $ 199, while a year ago the price was about $ 2 (an increase of 10 150% in 12 months).
The sixth line remained behind the Cardano project, which also showed significant growth in 2021 and set a historic maximum at $ 3.1 in October. At the moment, the cost of the altcoin is $ 1.8, in November 2020 – $ 0.18. Thus, the coin has increased in value by 900% over the past year.
XRP cannot boast of such dynamics. At its peak in April of this year, the asset price reached $ 1.9, but this figure is still far from the all-time high of $ 3.7, set in January 2018. Now the cost of the Ripple token is at $ 1, and over the past year it has increased by only 230%.
It's all to blame for the blockchain project's litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At the end of last year, the regulator accused Ripple of selling $ 1.3 billion in unregistered securities under the guise of XRP tokens. The SEC claims that the company's co-founder Chris Larsen and its CEO Brad Garlinghouse illegally raised capital to finance the business.
The Commission also believes that Larsen and Garlinghouse sold tokens worth about $ 600 million for their own enrichment. The trial is still ongoing. It is the main negative factor that keeps serious investors from buying XRP, said Nikita Zuborev, senior analyst at Bestchange.ru. Institutionals will avoid the asset while the trial continues, he said.
The fact that the dynamics of XRP largely depends on the litigation between Ripple and the SEC was also stated by Nikita Soshnikov, director of the Alfacash cryptocurrency exchange service. He noted that while Ripple is under pressure from the SEC, the active growth of the token is unlikely, which will allow it to update its all-time high. However, if the situation is resolved in favor of the California startup by the end of the current growth cycle, its token may bypass its neighbors in terms of capitalization rating and set a new value record.
XRP is no longer a "novelty", and most investors began to better understand projects and saw all the negative aspects of the centralized blockchains of private companies, in essence they are no different from the conditional "Qiwi" or "WebMoney" with their rules, restrictions, censoring transactions and relative politicization within the jurisdiction of a certain country, Zuborev noted. This distinguishes any centralized projects from decentralized cryptocurrencies, the analyst added.
He named two scenarios in which, in his opinion, XRP will be able to renew its historical maximum value:
- If the entire market grows on average by the same 200% that the token lacks;
- A very large-scale manipulative "Pump & Dump" scheme will take place. This can be triggered, for example, by a victory in court or by a large community like WallStreetBets.
Soshnikov looks more positively on the prospects for altcoin. He recalled that the startup's developments are used by many large organizations around the world. At the same time, some Ripple instruments imply transactions involving XRP.
“XRP tokens have practical value. In the event of a court decision in the case against the SEC in favor of Ripple, it is likely that over time the coin will be able to return to the top 3 in terms of capitalization, ”the specialist concluded.