Ripple’s XRP is one among the top 10 cryptocurrencies that has stayed under the radar for most of this season’s altcoin rally, but that may be about to change, especially after the company announced several exciting developments lately. At the time of writing, XRP/USD is trading at around $1.21.

One of the biggest updates Ripple shared earlier this week is the upcoming launch of a new product that will let financial institutions offer their customers an option to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Ripple’s Liquidity Hub, as it is called, will leverage the company’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service to allow clients to buy and sell leading cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, LTC, BHC, ETC and of course, the XRP.

All You Need to Know About Ripple’s Liquidity Hub

Ripple’s innovative service is a surefire way to drive up mainstream adoption of digital currencies, giving it quite the boost in the institutional investing space. According to General Manager at RippleNet, Asheesh Birla, the company came up with the Liquidity Hub to serve clients who wanted to provide access to cryptocurrencies for their end users. The service will let Ripple’s clients – financial services firms, buy leading cryptocurrencies by scanning multiple crypto exchanges, OTC desks and other crypto sellers, letting their customers buy crypto from a trading platform of their choosing, all via Ripple’s ODL infrastructure for a seamless experience.

The natural next step of this initiative would be an entry into the DeFi space – a move which would further brighten the prospects of the XRP, which currently ranks number seven in terms of market cap. This comes only a few days after Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz hinted at the company’s interest in developing support for NFTs. Birla has already hinted that the once clients begin buying and holding cryptos like Ethereum, they will look for access to the next generation of services.

While this news is certainly exciting and has the potential to catapult Ripple’s XRP into the hotly contested space of DeFi and NFTs, along with an edge because of its upcoming focus on more mainstream adoption of digital currencies, a possible development in the lawsuit between the company and the SEC could serve as somewhat of a mood dampener. Judge Sarah Netburn has ordered Ripple to search for and submit audio and video recordings of the company’s internal meetings, a move which could go in the SEC’s favor.

XRP/USD Technical Analysis

On the 4-hour chart of XRP/USD, most of the smaller moving averages along with leading technical indicators MACD and momentum are suggesting a bearish bias. However, the larger timeframe MAs indicate some buying interest as well.

The price Ripple’s XRP is holding above the pivot point at $1.18 and could continue its uptrend smoothly until the first resistance at $1.29. A break above this opens up the door to the $1.30 mark until buyers encounter resistance again at $1.37.