Ripple Price Forecast: Ripple Creates a Payments Corridor for Sta…

Last week, Ripple prices got a huge lift when the company announced a partnership with American Express Company (NYSE:AXP). XRP rose 24% in an hour, at one point.

Investors were simply stunned that Ripple corralled such a titan of finance. Now the company followed up its triumph with a repeat performance, adding an international payments channel between Standard Chartered Bank and Axis Bank India.

This real-time settlement network is identical to the one that Ripple set up between AMEX and Santander UK operations. It will reduce costs and hasten transactions.

In other Ripple news, the company welcomes a new board member, Benjamin Lawsky, and a new Chief Financial Officer, Ron Will, to the team.

Will has nearly 30 years of experience in investment banking and has recently spent time bringing startups to scale. (Source: “Ripple Welcomes New Chief Financial Officer Ron Will,” Ripple, November 21, 2017.)

Lawsky, on the other hand, brings two decades of public service to Ripple. He was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York—the most important financial court in the country—and was Chief of Staff to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. (Source: “Ripple Welcomes New Board Member Benjamin Lawsky,” Ripple, November 21, 2017.)

What’s Going on with Ripple Prices?

On Wednesday morning, Ripple prices fell 0.78% against the U.S. dollar, bringing the Ripple to USD exchange rate to $0.234406. However, the Ripple to Bitcoin rate moved up 0.39% to 0.00002862 BTC.

This price movement is nothing; it is the equivalent of a giant yawn. Cryptocurrencies often move by double digits in a single day. Therefore, investors shouldn’t pay any attention to the red ink beside XRP, especially since the currency is positive for the week.

How Active Are Investors?

Between November 20 and 21, XRP trading volumes increased 1.49% from $214.66 million to $217.85 million. The deceleration in trading activity continued overnight till they eventually dropped to $109.67 million. This fall is likely what caused Ripple prices to drop.

Where Is the XRP Demand Coming From?

As per usual, the majority of Ripple’s trading volumes hail from South Korea. Bithumb tops the list by accounting for 37.64%, while Coinone and Korbit add another 6.21% and 6.24%, respectively. All told, demand for XRP/KRW pairs is roughly half of the total.

However, there was a slight dropoff in Korean demand between yesterday and today. For some reason or another, traders decided to put their money elsewhere. Investors should keep an eye on Bithumb in particular, because when its volumes begin to rebound, XRP is likely to surge.

Analyst Take:

We maintain our $2.00 Ripple price prediction for 2018.