Is Ripple (XRP) Serious About Entering the NFT Space?
Ripple (XRP) is starting Wednesday on a somewhat bullish footing, climbing higher after strengthening by over 7% through the previous session, but is facing some pressure to the downside from the ongoing lawsuit with the SEC and other fundamental developments. At the time of writing, XRP/USD is trading at around $1.02.
With the rising popularity of NFTs in recent times, it is no surprise that cryptocurrency companies want to get in on the trend and attract more users to their networks. Ripple does not want to be left behind either – the company plans to leverage NFTs as a possible solution to tackle the challenge of rising transaction costs or gas fees on its network.
Ripple – the company behind XRP, wants to integrate NFT marketplaces on its ledger, a move that benefits both buyers as well as sellers. The XRP Ledger has an edge over several of its competitors for being far more energy efficient when it comes to validating transactions, and according to the company, offers a platform to operate more sustainable NFT apps and marketplaces.
While this news certainly pushes the interest in XRP higher, the lawsuit between Ripple and the SEC remains a thorn on the side, weighing on the optimism. On Tuesday, the company filed a response to the SEC’s request for a discovery conference with a focus on privileged materials, and progress towards a verdict still seems a little way off for now.
XRP/USD is also facing some downward pressure after news reports about how Ripple’s former CTO and Co-founder Jed McCaled sold off around 275 million XRP tokens in the month of May. His wallet still contains a comfortable 348 million XRP, but analysis by XRPScan reveals that he has been selling off his Ripple coins since the start of this month, performing transactions in multiple batches. It’s never good news for a cryptocurrency when a whale (owner of large number of tokens) dumps or sells off their holdings – and when it happens to XRP which is already fighting a legal battle, the news has a more severe impact on markets.
Key Levels to Watch
Technical analysis of the H4 price chart of XRP/USD reveals a bullish bias being signaled by leading indicators MACD and momentum. With the next immediate resistance sitting just above $1.45, Ripple’s XRP has ample room for bullishness in the near-term.
A continuation or strengthening of the uptrend could see buyers attempt to break past the key $2 level soon. However, if the sentiment turns bearish and sellers step in, we could see XRP’s price not only fall back below the key $1 level but head all the way down to $0.64, which is holding as support for now.