Ripple Price Prediction: World Economic Forum Report a Bullish Si…

According to a report from the World Economic Forum, the biggest banks on the planet are getting into cryptocurrencies. (Source: “Banks are finally starting to adopt cryptocurrencies,” World Economic Forum, September 22, 2017.)

Many of them are crafting their own bits of blockchain technology, but it’s good Ripple news, regardless.

After all, Ripple’s job is to connect all the various blockchains. It is the interstate highway of cryptocurrencies, not inner city throughway. That’s what makes it special.

However, it needs to add financial firms to its network, which means those firms need to take blockchain technology seriously. That’s why this is such good news.

If financial powerhouses like Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) and HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC) are hopping on to the bandwagon, we could see massive uptake in the near future.

Readers that are skeptical should take a look at what happened last week—Ripple signed a partnership with American Express Company (NYSE:AXP). Then, just this week, it opened a new payments corridor for Standard Chartered Bank.

In sum, the chips seem to be falling into place for Ripple. And that could explain why XRP is making its way towards $0.25.

What’s Going on with Ripple Prices?

On Thursday morning, XRP prices gained 3.15% against the U.S. dollar, advancing the Ripple to USD exchange rate to $0.241811. The Ripple to Bitcoin rate grew 3.21% to 0.00002947 BTC.

It was a return to upward momentum for Ripple, which had spent the last day or two in hibernation. Previous to that lull, prices were ascendant.

How Active Are Investors?

Between November 21 and 22, trading volumes dropped 23.3% from $217.9 million to $167.1 million. Typically, this kind of fall causes prices to drop, but there was a resurgence overnight and through the early morning hours.

Investors swapped $226.9 million worth of XRP tokens in the last 24 hours. This is still way below the $1.02 billion worth of XRP that was traded on November 16, but that was largely an aberration. XRP volumes are usually in the $100.0-million to $200.0-million range.

Where Is XRP Demand Coming From?

Bithumb, a Korean exchange, is the most prominent trading venue for XRP. It accounted for 45.04% of total trading activity. Coinone and Korbit, two other Korean exchanges, added 7.81% and 6.84% respectively.

Analyst Take:

We believe that XRP will reach $0.40 before the end of 2017, after which it could accelerate towards our 2018 Ripple price prediction of $2.00.