Key Takeaways:
In a fascinating twist in the crypto world, Ripple (XRP) surged by over 20% on Monday, breaking its downward trend against Bitcoin (BTC) as the crypto rally widened its embrace. XRP’s value leaped to $0.74 within just an hour on Monday afternoon UTC, marking its highest point since a fleeting surge last November, fueled by rumors of a BlackRock-managed XRP ETF.
While Bitcoin has been shattering its own records and various sectors within the crypto universe, like meme coins and AI-related tokens, have seen substantial gains, XRP was noticeably lagging behind until now.
Before this recent surge, XRP’s value against Bitcoin had dropped to its lowest in three years, as per TradingView data. Despite Monday’s impressive rally, XRP’s year-to-date increase stands at 17%, still lagging behind Bitcoin’s 64% rise.
This resurgence in XRP’s value might be indicating a shift in trader focus, with capital rotating towards previously overlooked tokens as the digital asset market’s rally broadens. Other established cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin (LTC) and Dash (DASH) have also experienced significant gains in the last 24 hours, rising by 18% and 9%, respectively.
Similarly, Avalanche (AVAX), Polkadot (DOT), and Cardano (ADA) have seen their values increase by 8-13% during the same period.
The trigger behind XRP’s sudden price movement remains speculative, but significant token transfers from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance have raised eyebrows.
Whale Alert, a blockchain data tracker, reported a massive movement of 300 million XRP, valued at around $187 million at the time, from Binance to an unknown wallet.
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 300,000,000 #XRP (187,134,686 USD) transferred from #Binance to unknown wallethttps://t.co/n6uoHsu3BZ
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) March 8, 2024
This was followed by several large transactions, each moving 18-19 million XRP from Binance to various addresses.
These transfers could signify large investors accumulating XRP in anticipation of the rally, or they might simply reflect routine wallet maintenance by the exchange.
Regardless of the reason, these movements have certainly fueled speculation and interest in XRP’s market activities.