After the news of Gary Gensler's resignation in January, XRP's trading volume showed explosive growth, with Ripple's executives accumulating over 250 million tokens in a short period. In this buying frenzy, XRP's price soared, and the futures market hit a new high - with open interest exceeding $2.5 billion. With news of the IPO launch and the XRP ETF set to be listed in the first quarter of 2025, the market is thriving, especially if regulations on XRP become less stringent. Investors are waiting for a significant rebound.
Let's analyze the latest developments and their implications for the future of XRP.
Whales are accumulating XRP amid bullish sentiment.
Ripple whales have been on a buying spree, accumulating millions of XRP in recent days. According to Santiment, over 250 million tokens were purchased during the market downturn, driving a strong 200% increase this month. Whale alerts reported a series of transfers, including 149 million XRP (worth $227 million) moving from Bybit to private wallets, while another whale snapped up 20 million XRP from the South Korean exchange Upbit.
The bullish activity has not stopped there. On-chain data has also tracked the transfer of 58 million XRP (worth $87 million) from Binance to whale wallets. This large-scale accumulation indicates strong confidence in XRP's long-term prospects, and traders like Ali Martinez have pointed out that strategic accumulation is a key indicator for whales anticipating further upside.
XRP futures OI hits a record of $2.5 billion.
The futures market for Ripple is bustling, with open interest (OI) currently exceeding $2.5 billion. This milestone indicates that investors are optimistic about the future of XRP. The increase in futures OI, especially on platforms like Binance and Bybit, shows that traders are confident about the price trend of XRP. According to the latest data from Coinglass, the futures OI is 1.59 billion XRP, proving that investor interest is growing.
The surge in open interest coincides with XRP's recent 4% price increase, currently trading at about $1.51. The 24-hour high and low prices are $1.54 and $1.31 respectively, indicating increasing market volatility, with trading volume up 24%, clearly showing that traders are getting involved.
What’s next for XRP?
After the bull market, analysts have set a short-term target of $2, while some predict XRP's long-term price could rise to $20. XRP skyrocketed by 200% in just three weeks, reaching $1.51 on November 25, supporting the bullish sentiment. For the first time since April 2021, it is expected to close with the largest monthly candlestick. The RSI has also exceeded 70%, indicating significant bullish momentum in the future. Even more exciting is that XRP/BTC has rebounded sharply, with its value more than doubling. As signs of Bitcoin's dominance begin to wane, XRP seems poised to surpass BTC in the coming months.
As of now, XRP is trading at $1.43. Based on the records and bullish technical factors, is $20 within reach? We shall see.