XRP has a special place in the global crypto ecosystem. Known for its cost-effective infrastructure, the crypto asset gained popularity among financial institutions around the world. While the digital currency fell behind other major altcoins in terms of price gains in 2021, XRP has received full support from large investors throughout the last 12 months.
XRP is one of the oldest crypto assets. The cryptocurrency has seen extreme price volatility in the last 4 years. In January 2018, XRP reached an all-time high of more than $3.50. During the crypto market sell-off in 2018, the digital currency touched a low of almost $0.20. Until December 2020, XRP traded in a range between $0.20 and $0.70. However, the biggest challenge for the cryptocurrency appeared in the second half of December last year when SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple and its executives. XRP lost nearly 60% of its value within the last two weeks of 2020. Even in the toughest of circumstances, long-term investors poured billions of dollars into the digital asset.
With year-to-date gains of approximately 280%, XRP has remained one of the best-performing digital assets among the top 10. Crypto whales have played an important role in XRP’s price gains in 2021. Just in the last three months, XRP whales accumulated a whopping 200 million coins. Addresses holding between 1 million and 10 million coins now own an astonishing amount of 3.31 billion XRP. While the digital asset is expected to close this year with a market cap of $40 billion, cryptocurrencies like Solana and Cardano have already crossed XRP in terms of price gains and market cap. Then why long-term investors are still supporting XRP? Finance Magnates asked crypto experts about their views on the digital asset.
XRP at a Discount?
Many investors believe that XRP is currently trading at a massive discount and the price of the digital asset looks set to explode in 2022. “XRP is a preferred long-term asset for many investors as the coin is considered one of the cheapest of the oldest, and most prestigious coins around today. Many consider XRP’s current price a huge discount when compared to its ATH of $3.84, which the current community believes it will surpass in the near future. Also, a big factor affecting the XRP/USD price is the monthly XRP sales by Ripple. If they did not do that, the XRP price would have been over $5.” Ilman Shazhaev, Executive Chairman of OneBoost, explained.
Ripple and SEC
SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple has caused several issues for the crypto asset in the last 12 months. While the price has already jumped above the pre-lawsuit levels, a settlement will provide a major boost. “XRP is one of the oldest and the most established coin in terms of community diversity. The strength of this coin in relation to its price is currently inversely correlated, and this can be attributed to the Ripple-linked court duel with the US SEC. With this case projected to be over in 2022, many investors believe the coin will receive a whole new growth push,” Sven Wenzel, the Co-Founder of Switzerland-based Castello Coin, said.
Adoption
The global adoption of XRP has played a pivotal role in the confidence of its long-term holders. Johnny McCamley of CryptoClear believes that XRP is bridging the gap between CBDCs. “XRP is an excellent investment for the long term, 1 of the 15 projects that we, at CryptoClear, include in our Dollar Cost Averaging plan (DCA Plan) for the long term due to the team, tech maturity and real-life use case. Real-life use is the main focus for us when considering an investment: in XRP's case, there are many, one we will focus on which is highly relevant in today's landscape is [that] XRP is the ideal Crypto Asset to bridge the gaps between the various Central Bank Digital Currencies(CBDC's). The digital asset industry has finally matured to the point that CBDC's are now a question of WHEN not IF,” he commented.
“Ripple has been punished since December 2020 when the SEC filed a lawsuit against the company. However, big companies and financial entities still believe in XRP and Ripple’s direct applications,” Joaquim Matinero Tor, a Blockchain Associate at Roca Junyent, said.
