What Is Suppressing The Price Of XRP Within $3?

• The possibility of XRP price suppression continues to be one of the hottest issues in the crypto sphere.
• The founder of BlackSwan Capitalist aired his theory about a coordinated effort from regulators, traditional financial institutions, centralized exchanges, and even Ripple to drag the asset’s price down.

XRP has undoubtedly staged its biggest comeback since November last year. From there, significant developments have defined the XRP Ledger’s (XRPL) ecosystem, catapulting the token back to the top three rankings of the cryptocurrency market.

Even with the recent joint filing of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs for the dismissal of their case, rapid adoption of XRPL solutions, XRP, and Ripple USD (RLUSD) by institutions, positive sentiment about the possible approval of XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US, favorable technical indicators, and social media hype for the digital asset, XRP remained grounded just above the $3 line. So far, it has constantly fallen short of matching its all-time high of $3.84 eight years ago.

The XRP Conspiracy

The current situation has led to prominent figures within the crypto community raising the likelihood of a deliberate price suppression from the powers-that-be to prevent XRP from rising to new heights. Versan Aljarrah, founder of BlackSwan Capitalist, is among the experts questioning why the token’s price doesn’t reflect its utility, adoption, or strategic role in the cross-border payments scene. Even regulations that supposedly aim to reduce friction and reinforce the infrastructure of digital assets have failed to give it a boost.

ADVERTISEMENTAmong the top three crypto assets in the market, only Bitcoin (BTC) has been logging one all-time high (ATH) after another, leaving Ethereum (ETH) and XRP struggling to match their record peaks. XRP fell short at $3.65 in July before retracing its steps around the $3 line, while ETH remained locked at roughly $4.7K in the past few days before its recent pullback.

Economic Warfare Against XRP

To illustrate his point, Aljarrah noted how XRP was getting significant traction on Bloomberg and other news outlets in 2020, only for the SEC to slap Ripple and its key executives with a lawsuit for allegedly trading unregistered securities and other charges. The BlackSwan Capitalist founder claimed that the regulator acted on the orders of “central planners,” not due to its mandate to protect investors. Although Ripple is merely a company that uses XRPL in its payment solutions, conspirators were certain that the controversy would drag XRP through its association with the company.

For Aljarrah, it was an economic warfare, mainly due to the case occurring right when MoneyGram and other key global corridors were validating XRP for broader global coverage in the payments and remittances sector. The event led to most crypto exchanges delisting XRP to play it safe amid legal uncertainty.

ADVERTISEMENTAljarrah pointed out that it was about disrupting momentum and eliminating the threat posed by the asset to traditional payment systems. This is still evident as US banking groups have recently made a concentrated effort to block Ripple’s plan to establish its own bank, which could potentially boost the utility of XRP, the RLUSD, and other assets within XRPL.

A Concerted Effort to Drive a Wedge in Retail Investors

Additionally, Aljarrah argued that every time XRP’s liquidity builds or its volume rises, there appears to be a coordinated resistance driving the price down. Bots, spoof orders, and wash trading all contribute to halting its momentum. These manipulate the token’s trading volume to obscure real demand. He stated that such a scenario is prevalent in centralized exchanges.

Aljarrah said that without sell walls and massive synthetic volume that fail to move the spot price, the price of XRP would spike with utility-driven demand just like any other asset.

Ripple Having a Hand in the Scheme

Interestingly, Aljarrah criticized Ripple for apparently caving in to the pressure, which led to its participation in a system that constantly reroutes XRP’s value to keep its business going. His main contention lay in Ripple’s ODL (On-Demand Liquidity) system.

For context, ODL uses XRP for settlement. However, the assets only flow through OTC (over the counter) desks, private hubs, and closed corridors. This way, XRP can function as a bridge without triggering price fluctuations. In short, the crypto asset is being used, but its price is redirected. During a sit-down discussion, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also admitted that they utilize a private ledger as some institutions and high-value banking clients, especially in the Middle East, don’t want their transactions recorded on a public ledger.

The Ultimate Goal

Despite the pivot of the current regime toward a favorable environment for digital assets in the US, Aljarrah alleged “there’s a deliberate framework suppressing XRP.” Its purpose is to keep prices low until the infrastructure is ready and the legacy system can migrate.

ADVERTISEMENTThe BlackSwan Capitalist founder explained that the scheme has been in place as early as 2020 when Coinbase, Kraken, and others delisted XRP to keep it away from retail investors, while some traditional institutions were building their new infrastructure within the XRPL ecosystem. Ultimately, it’s to give financial institutions a lower entry barrier into XRP as they prepare to integrate it into their systems, allowing them to accumulate the asset and build on the XRPL architecture before retail demand catches up and reflects the real demand-driven prices.

Lastly, Aljarrah posed the question, “How long will the suppression continue while the very same institutions applying it are preparing to use its infrastructure?”

In this case, patience could be the key for the retail sector to partake the fruits of XRP’s inevitable price breakout. Alternatively, they should seek other assets that are not prone to the same risks and challenges plaguing the token.