For years, crypto enthusiasts have been patiently waiting for XRP to return to its early glory days. Since the SEC filed an alleged legal lawsuit against Ripple, XRP was trading under a major resistance level. However, 2023 came with positive news for the crypto, as it has been on a significant uptrend over the past few days. Along with the improvement in general market conditions, let’s see why experts predict that XRP’s bull run is far from over.
What Is Driving XRP’s Bullish Trend?
XRP’s price rallies and developments clearly show that the crypto is all set to rise again in 2023. The crypto’s market capitalization has peaked at a notable high of $21,306,768,457, solidifying its uptrend.
XRP is traded at $0.416879 and has even been closer to the $0.50 level over the past few days, aligning with the uptrend of other major cryptocurrencies. Let’s see some of the key catalysts that would fuel the XRP bull run in 2023.
Significant User Surge In XRPL
The XRPL (XRP Ledger) is a decentralized blockchain technology supported by Ripple and has played a key role in XRP’s current uptrend. Despite any macro pressure or even the ongoing legal lawsuit, there has been a significant surge in XRPL users recently. The ledger continues to grow, boasting over 5 million total accounts on XRP, as reported on February 23.
Studies by Messari have shown that regardless of external factors and overhead pressure from US regulatory authorities, XRPL has proved to be a viable digital payment infrastructure for investors and financial entities like central banks.
Total XRPL accounts are increasing. Source: Messari
The chart demonstrates the increasing pattern of XRPL adoption since February, which is significantly contributing to the rise of XRP’s price. Since several institutions and individuals have started using XRPL for cross-currency transactions, a wider adoption could certainly drive up the demand and value of the token. This surge in demand could play a significant role in driving the price of XRP above the $0.50 level soon.
Studies have also emphasized the importance of XRPL’s Proof-of-Association (PoA) consensus algorithm in the broader financial system. Along with validating transactions and ensuring network security, PoA processes faster transaction speed to facilitate timely and cost-efficient settlements.
Positive Outlook For XRP As Holdings Set To Increase And Boost Its Price
XRP uptrend on the 1-day chart. Source: XRPUSDT on TradingView.com
Reports also show that increased participation of validators in the network ensures its security and efficiency. Since all nodes on XRPL use the same free and open-source software, rippled, to validate and process transactions, all validators should hold a specific amount of XRP to participate. More validators holding the token as collateral means high demand for the crypto, which could fuel the price rise of XRP to the verge of breaching its resistance zone of $0.50 soon.
Messari's study also highlights several additional features of XRPL, including Issued Currencies (IOUs), which support a variety of assets, Authorized Trust Lines, which help token issuers control which wallets can interact with their tokens, and a Central Limit Order Book enabling low-liquidity IOU trading.
Rising Speculation Of Ripple’s Victory In SEC Lawsuit
The main reason why experts say that a bull run is far from over for XRP is the renewed confidence in Ripple’s defense and rising speculation about its victory in the SEC lawsuit. This optimism has sent XRP soaring to new highs over the past few weeks. In addition to verdicts like removing the so-called “Expert No. 1” Patrick Doody, whom the SEC brought in as a primary witness against XRP, the firm has recently filed a Letter Notice of Supplemental Authority in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The letter was aimed to strengthen Ripple’s defense and criticized the SEC’s claims regarding the security status of crypto tokens. It also intended to bring Judge Analisa Torres’ attention to a recent ruling by Federal Judge Michael Wiles in a separate lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court.
These developments were seen as positive by crypto analysts and Twitter experts like crypto lawyer John Deaton and Messari founder Ryan Selkis. This would reinforce Ripple’s chances of victory in the lawsuit in 2023, pushing its price to new highs.
Increasing Partnerships
Despite the ongoing lawsuit, Ripple was highly successful in forming a network of strategic partnerships with financial institutions and banks to foster its expansion. Ripple has an ever-growing list of partners that include giants like Santander (USA), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (Canada), and Kotak Mahindra Bank (India). The crypto has multiple use cases like facilitating payment settlements, treasury management, and more.
Additionally, Ripple is also expanding the use of its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) solution across borders. As the next step, it has recently partnered with I-Remit, the largest non-bank remittance service provider in the Philippines.
Increase In Whale Accumulation
Another factor that contributes to XRP’s next bull run is the increasing number of whales on the XRP Ledger. Large investors are aggressively accumulating the crypto, assuming a favorable outcome in the legal battle soon. Within a day, XRP crypto whales have acquired over 70 million worth of XRP tokens through multiple transactions. This pumped-up adoption would certainly push the price of XRP to breach its resistance level soon.
The Bottomline
XRP’s overall uptrend can be attributed to factors like increasing institutional and whale adoption, positive developments on the regulatory front, and positive market sentiment. Therefore, it is safe to say that the bull run is far from over for XRP, as the long-term outlook looks highly positive for the altcoin.