XRP Ledger Expands Beyond Payments: Growing Use Cases

• The use case of the XRP Ledger is expanding beyond payments per new on-chain outlook.
• XRP price remains the major beneficiary despite the current bearish outlook.

XRP Ledger (XRPL), a decentralized public blockchain built for business by Ripple Labs, has seen a shift in user activity. Notably, users have expanded beyond using XRPL for payments and shifted focus to other features in the network.

Users Adopt XRPL Beyond Payments

In a recent blog post, CrytoQuant analyst J. A Maartunn highlighted a change in users’ behavior on XRPL. According to the analyst, XRPL users performed 88% of payment transactions, and 12% were OfferCreate transactions at the beginning of 2024. However, the current users’ activity on the network is showing a different dynamic as statistics are balanced at 50% for each category.

The increase in OfferCreate transactions indicates an increase in trading activity. This shows that users leverage XRPL’s capabilities to issue new assets and implement Decentralized Exchange (DEX) functionalities. With the upgrade the XRP Ledger has recorded on-chain over the past year, this growth did not come as a surprise.

According to Maartunn’s perspective, more users are likely utilizing the XRP Ledger for complex strategies other than payments. Consequently, the analyst forecasted rising prices for XRP. Meanwhile, Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin will launch on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum (ETH) blockchain soon. Testing has commenced on both networks, resulting in the minting and burning of new tokens.

As reported by CNF, Ripple once minted 4.5 million RLUSD stablecoins within 24 hours. Backed by the US dollar, XRPL is designed to complement XRP to enhance international transactions. The introduction of RLUSD is seen as a strategic move to strengthen Ripple’s position in the market. Also, Ripple seeks to challenge established stablecoin players like Tether. 

Meanwhile, Ripple launched its crypto custody solution to enable banks and financial technology firms to store digital assets for clients. As revealed in a CNF report, the new solution is set for integration into the XRPL. With the integration, a specific feature will monitor anti-money laundering risk, expanding XRPL’s functionalities in the blockchain space.

XRP’s Price Movement and Expectations

After losing the $0.6 price region in October, XRP is currently trading at $0.5122, per MarketCap data. While XRP increased by 1.7% in the last 24 hours, the price is still down 86.65% from its all-time high of $3.84. The coin dropped by 3.8% within the past month and 15.18% since November 2023. 

The XRP price chart’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is 41.15, indicating that bears are in control. 

The gradient of the line indicates that the slow price movement may continue soon. In contrast, the daily trading volume increased by 54.4%, suggesting investors’ willingness to accumulate the coin. Additionally, analysts forecast a bullish target for XRP. Some predict a medium target of $0.59 and $1.50. Others, however, forecast a more bullish target of $7.50.