TL;DR

• Ripple (XRP) has surged 500% in less than three months, with the number of wallets surpassing 6 million and ecosystem activity increasing.
• Analysts foresee the asset reaching new highs, with targets between $4.40 and $6, despite recent dips linked to broader market corrections after Trump’s inauguration.

XRP’s Progress

Despite its plunge on a daily scale, Ripple’s XRP has been on a tear in the past few months. Recall that the price was hovering at around $0.50 at the beginning of November last year, while currently, it is worth over $3 (representing a 500% increase).

This impressive rally could be one reason behind the rising adoption. According to the latest data, the total number of XRP wallets exceeded 6 million. This should be considered a serious achievement, considering that the figure stood at around 5 million at the start of 2024. 

This development coincides with other Ripple-related metrics that have been on the rise recently. Some examples include the number of executed XRP transactions and the number of newly activated accounts. 

Reaching the aforementioned milestone, plus the increased ecosystem activity, suggests an expanding user base, which could boost demand and create additional upward pressure on the price. 

XRP Forecasts

The list of analysts predicting that the token is poised for further gains is quite substantial. Most recently, the popular X user Ali Martinez claimed XRP “has broken out of a bullish flag” and is now gearing up for a new all-time high of $4.40. 

Mikybull Crypto envisioned a similar target, maintaining that the asset has “one of the strongest bullish charts out there.” 

Other market observers who chipped in lately include the X users CEO and Dark Defender. The former thinks XRP could skyrocket to $6, whereas the latter believes the asset may never plunge below $3 again.

It is important to note that Dark Defender made their forecast on January 20, when the price was trading well above $3.15. However, several hours later, it dipped below $3 following the plunge of the entire cryptocurrency market once Donald Trump officially became America’s 47th President.

During his inauguration, he touched upon multiple topics but failed to mention the digital asset industry, which might explain the dip. As CryptoPotato reported, the correction resulted in over $200 million in liquidations within an hour, as hundreds of thousands of traders were wrecked.

The January 20 inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president marked his return to the White House after four years. The event has generated significant enthusiasm in the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin soaring to all-time highs amid expectations of a more tech-friendly administration.

However, the enthusiasm was tempered by a rapid market correction.

Social Media Hype Ends in Rapid Correction

Bitcoin’s price experienced a sharp correction from its recent all-time high of $109,300, which occurred amid a surge in social media mentions of higher targets of $110k-$119k. Santiment’s latest analysis revealed that Bitcoin’s potential price targets – $90k-$99k, $100k-$109k, and $110k-$119k – across platforms like X, Reddit, Telegram, 4Chan, and Farcaster serve as valuable contrarian indicators.

Historically, when social media is dominated by optimistic calls for higher prices, it signals a market peak, followed by a sell-off driven by whales selling to retail buyers. On the other hand, when mentions cluster around lower price expectations, it often reflects retail fear and selling. This essentially provides whales with buying opportunities that result in price increases.

As such, Santiment’s data shows an uptick in mentions of higher price levels as potential greed and FOMO dominating the market. This pattern suggests whales may be selling off their holdings, which could lead to a short-term correction.

The on-chain analytic platform advised traders to remain cautious and consider a contrarian approach, as betting against current crowd sentiment often aligns with upcoming market reversals. Monitoring social media trends in real-time can provide valuable insights into Bitcoin’s immediate price trajectory.

The Pullback

Crypto markets anticipated Trump addressing the asset class in his inaugural speech and possibly discussing a strategic Bitcoin reserve. However, the absence of such remarks led Bitcoin to drop from its Monday peak to just over $102,000.

Other major cryptocurrencies, including Cardano, Solana, and Dogecoin, saw over 9% losses, while XRP and Ethereum fell by more than 5%.

Trump’s highly anticipated speech during his inauguration ceremony lacked one important thing – the mentioning of crypto. This resulted in massive volatility and price slumps for the market, with BTC dumping from its latest all-time high to $100,000.

The altcoins have suffered even more, especially reps of the ever-volatile meme coin sector.

BTC’s Nosedive

The weekend turned out to be a lot more eventful than many expected due to the launch of two consecutive meme coins by the now First Family. The primary cryptocurrency managed to defend its position and remained relatively still above $103,000. Moreover, it jumped to over $106,000 on Sunday before it plunged hard on Monday morning to just under $100,000.

It managed to bounce off almost immediately and shot up to a new all-time high of just under $110,000. Following these already quite painful moves for some over-leveraged traders, more volatility was expected later during the day as all eyes were on the US presidential ceremony.

Once that began, BTC tumbled by five grand within minutes to $102,000. It bounced off during the speech but dropped once again as it ended due to the lack of any mentions of crypto whatsoever. The largest digital asset dropped to $100,000 before it added a few grand and now sits above $102,000.

Its market capitalization stands at $2.03 trillion, while its dominance over the alts is still at 55.4%.

Alts Bleed Out

As it typically happens when BTC heads south in a violent fashion, so do the alts. Ethereum, Binance Coin, Chainlink, and Toncoin are among the least declining assets, with price losses of up to 3-4%.

In contrast, XRP is down by 6%, AVAX, XLM, and HBAR by around 8%, while SOL, DOGE, and ADA have plunged by up to 10.5%.

The biggest daily losers come from the meme coin space, with FARTCOIN dumping by 28% and TRUMP slumping by 27%.

The total crypto market cap is down by over $200 billion since yesterday to $3.670 trillion on CG.