Potentially false rumors about altcoin reserve drives XRP and SOL prices higher
In light of this speculation, XRP is among the most actively traded tokens on Coinbase and Binance, rising to a seven-year high of nearly $3.40.
Published January 16, 2025 at 5:24 PM ET.
The XRP token was rising on digital asset markets after a New York Post report on Thursday morning said Trump was “receptive” to including US cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin in a national reserve.
However, three sources told Unchained that the rumors driving the market are likely untrue.
This speculation has made XRP one of the most traded tokens on popular cryptocurrency exchanges by volume, with the third-largest cryptocurrency jumping 10% in the past 24 hours to a seven-year high of $3.40. Meanwhile, Solana’s SOL token also saw its price rise by more than 5% in the same period to $213.
“XRP’s recent move can be attributed to strong correlations among the Ripple team and potential alignment with political shifts under the Trump administration leading up to the inauguration,” Jake Ostrovskis, an over-the-counter trader at cryptocurrency liquidity provider Wintermute, told Unchained about the cable.
In business or a “self-serving” rumour?
On Thursday, New York Post I mentioned That Trump was receptive to the possibility of creating an America First strategic reserve that would include US-established cryptocurrencies such as XRP and SOL.
“As of today, traders are betting on the possibility of adding the asset to the strategic reserve, following the news that it dropped this morning,” said trader Wintermute.
New York Times I mentioned Later on Thursday, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse encouraged Trump to include cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin in the federal government’s potential cryptocurrency stockpile. The post did not echo what the New York Post reported that the president-elect was “receptive” to the idea.
Susan Hendrick, Ripple’s senior director of communications, confirmed to Unchained that Garlinghouse encouraged Trump to diversify potential cryptocurrency reserves beyond Bitcoin, but did not offer a comment on whether Trump was receptive to diversification.
Sources who spoke to Unchained speculated that the New York Post report actually reflects a “self-serving” rumor planted by Ripple Labs representatives. Ripple is the main shareholder of the XRPL blockchain network, which uses XRP as its native token.
Hendrick, the Ripple Labs spokeswoman, did not address Unchained’s request for comment on whether the possibility of an altcoin reserve is a “self-serving” rumor planted by company executives.
A a report Axios on Wednesday quoted Trump as telling representatives of an unidentified company: “You guys made this much money last year and you’re going to make a lot more now because of me… But when I needed you, where the fuck was?” You? You weren’t with me and maybe you were with me [Kamala Harris]”.
Two sources told Unchained that the conversation was with Ripple representatives. The Axios story did not mention the name of Ripple, nor did it say when the conversation took place. (Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen has donated millions to political action committees supporting Kamala Harris.)
A Ripple Labs spokeswoman did not initially respond to a request for comment on sources’ claim that the company, which was not named in the Axios report, is Ripple. After this article was published, she emailed: “These rumors are completely false.” When Unchained went on to note that our questions asked about specific claims about whether Ripple was the source who told The Post that Trump was “receptive” to XRP reserves, and whether the company mentioned in the Axios report was Ripple, Hendrick confirmed that “those rumors are completely false,” but did not specify which ones.
The Trump-Vance transition team also did not respond to a request for comment.
The price movement of like that. Offers and sales of investment contracts.
On the dominant US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, XRP’s 24-hour trading volume stands at $2 billion, accounting for nearly 30% of the swap venue’s total trading activity. Users on Binance, which is not based in the United States, generated $3.8 billion, or about 12% of total volume, the second-largest after bitcoin, according to CoinGecko.
Read more: Jupiter announces details of its upcoming airdrop of $575 million worth of JUP tokens
High Onchain activity
Unchained XRP is seeing increased on-chain activity, said Julio Moreno, head of research at blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant.
Not only have daily active wallet addresses for XRP risen from a low of 10,000 in mid-2024 to a high of over 100,000 at the end of 2024, but liquidity on the XRPL decentralized exchange (DEX) has quadrupled since early November to reach $20 billion this year. week. Showing data from CryptoQuant.
The XRPL DEX also contains a number of meme currencies such as ARMY and PHNIX, which had a 24-hour trading volume of $5.4 million and $1.6 million respectively, according to the trading platform. DEX testing device.
Wintermute’s Ostrovskis argued that retail investors play an “important role” in XRP’s price movement, and that “the token’s widespread availability on retail platforms has further supported significant trading activity and buying flow.”
CryptoQuant’s Moreno said that large holders dominate XRP on exchanges as evidenced by “XRP flows to exchanges coming from transactions worth 1 million XRP or more ($3 million or more at current prices).”
Updated Thursday, January 16, 2025 at 7:45 PM ET: This article has been updated to include responses sent by Ripple’s Hendrik after publication.
https://unchainedcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/shutterstock_2480032925-scaled.jpg
