The XRP price crash earlier this week has many stuck bullish investors in the XRP community on edge, but an outspoken voice in the community believes the move is not as arbitrary as it seems.
A crypto expert known as Stellar Rippler has encouraged XRP holders to withdraw their cryptocurrencies from centralized exchanges immediately, with the expectation that the recent volatility is not just a routine market dip, but a warning sign of what is to come.
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Developed XRP crash?
Stellar Rippler’s position is based on the idea that XRP is treated differently behind the scenes than most digital assets. He pointed to past comments from David Schwartz, co-creator of the
He went further to name major financial players including BlackRock, JPMorgan, Bank of America and institutions linked to the BRICS, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the European central banking structures. According to the expert, all these institutions have purchased the right to buy the XRP currently held by Ripple.
At the time of writing, there are no public records confirming the coordinated purchase of XRP escrows by these entities, but the argument has found receptive ears among investors unsettled by the recent sell-off.
From that angle, the expert noted that sudden downward movements, such as the recent drop to $1.15, are designed. By ‘engineered’ it means that the price crash serves a strategic purpose: creating opportunities for major financial players to accumulate XRP at lower prices before any market repricing occurs.
Should you withdraw your XRP from the exchanges?
Another part of the warning focused on the user experience at major crypto exchanges. According to the expert, Binance and Coinbase users have reportedly had trouble getting their crypto off the exchanges. This in itself is a warning to XRP holders to withdraw their cryptos from crypto exchanges and put them in a cold wallet. That message taps into conversations in crypto about self-custody versus maintaining ownership on crypto exchanges.
The call to be your own bank tends to resurface when price action becomes volatile. The alarm sounded against the backdrop of a Bitcoin price crash below $70,000, sending most cryptocurrencies lower. XRP in particular fell to around $1.15 during the sell-off before recovering.
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At the time of writing, XRP is trading around $1.42, which alleviates some of the immediate pressure but does not fully restore confidence. In terms of confidence, sentiment around XRP on social media is relatively optimistic. Show data XRP receives more positive comments than other major assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, despite the recent market-wide crash.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView