Through X, Sean McBride, a former executive at Ripple, offered one analysis of the stunning downward trend in the XRP price, despite a series of seemingly positive developments surrounding Ripple and the XRP Ledger (XRPL). McBride’s insights come at a time when XRP’s underperformance in a bullish market continues to baffle investors and industry observers alike.
Why has the XRP price dropped despite a lot of positive news?
Despite recent bullish periods in the broader crypto market, XRP has notably failed to capitalize on these gains. Speaking to
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On July 13, 2023, Judge Torres’ ruling that XRP is not a security led to a temporary 100% increase to $0.93, demonstrating the market’s sensitivity to legal developments. Eleven months later, however, the price of
“Nothing major will happen to the price of XRP until Judge Torres makes her decision. So anyone who expects anything different is delusional,” McBride explained, adding, “Once Torres makes her decision, I think we’ll find out a little more about what’s actually behind the curtain. This could open the door for US institutions working with Ripple to ‘flip the switch’. We’ll just have to wait and see if that is the case.”
Despite the overshadowing legal drama, Ripple has had no shortage of positive news. Recently Ripple announced the establishment of the XRPL Japan and Korea Fund on June 11, 2024, a major initiative with an allocation of 1 billion XRP aimed at catalyzing the growth and development of the XRPL ecosystem in East Asia.
Furthermore, Ripple’s strategic acquisitions were notable. The company has been successful rounded the acquisition of Standard Custody & Trust Company. In May 2023, Ripple further expanded its services by acquiring blockchain company Metaco for $250 million, and in April it announced plans to launch a stablecoin aimed at strengthening the XRP Ledger ecosystem.
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Commenting on these strategic shifts by Ripple, McBride noted: “Ripple is perfect, they don’t make mistakes. Their executives fart rainbows. Everything they’ve done turns to gold. Wake the damn people up. If you think this is how Ripple works, you are seriously mistaken. They are outspokenly self-critical, employees have backbone; disagree and commit. Ripple has changed their strategy many times.”
Ripple has been particularly proactive in securing more than 40 Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs) required for its payments business in the United States. “The next big piece of this is clear legislation in the US. Hopefully that comes with recent developments in Congress and Trump’s commitment to Crypto (assuming he becomes President),” McBride noted.
In response to a user’s question about the likelihood of an appeal to the SEC if Ripple receives a favorable ruling, McBride noted: “This shouldn’t prevent what’s happening in the US, IMO, unless of course the ruling isn’t in the advantage of Ripple is.”
McBride addressed another user’s observation about a perceived shift in his tone regarding Ripple and XRP, reassuring, “No, not at all. I am still very bullish on Ripple and XRP. […] I’m a big fan, but that doesn’t mean I’m blind to the reality of what’s happening.”
At the time of writing, XRP was trading at $0.4818.
Featured image created with DALL·E, chart from TradingView.com