This week had quite some interesting Ripple news courtesy of its latest wave of capital injection.
CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, confirmed the $500 million investment, but it ended up raising speculation that the company might be planning to go public.
The investment, which saw Ripple’s value push past $40 billion, initially triggered IPO speculations because of the VC companies involved.
They included the likes of Galaxy Digital, Citadel, Fortress, Pantera, and Brevan Howard.
The same VC firms have traditionally been known to engage in pre-IPO investment, hence raising Ripple IPO speculation.
However, Ripple President Monica Long revealed that the company had no plans to go public.
Although IPO plans were dismissed, the recent VC liquidity injection still underscored confidence in Ripple’s growth potential.
Not going the IPO route also indicates that the company was interested in maintaining control of its operations.
Ripple News: Can Rising Institutional Appeal Shift Sentiment Around XRP?
Ripple’s native coin XRP, has been experiencing a downtrend, just as was the case with most cryptocurrencies.
Its latest bearish momentum cooled off at the $2.20 price level, where it has been experiencing support.
XRP price exchanged hands at $2.31 at press time, after a 5% plus rally in the last 24 hours. Its recovery outpaced Bitcoin and Ethereum, which were up 1.2% and 3.2% respectively.
XRP’s stronger bounce back may have been a sign of more confidence among investors, likely driven by excitement over the VC funding.
Although the slight recovery seemed like the start of another rally, some on-chain data painted a different picture.
For example, whale activity leaned in favor of the bears. Large orderbook statistics on Coinglass revealed that whales contributed almost $7 million worth of net outflows in the spot segment.
Short positions executed by the same whale legion amounted to $338 million. In other words, whales anticipated more downside, or they took advantage of the recent uptick to secure exit liquidity.
This may also signal more downside ahead over the weekend, especially if existing demand fails to absorb the sell pressure. Another wave of selling pressure may push for a retest of the $2 support.
XRP Bulls Have a Major Catalyst in their Arsenal
While the recent VC funding and $40 billion valuation may have attracted excitement around Ripple and XRP, ETF prospects may keep bullish hopes alive.
XRP ETF chatter was on the rise in Ripple news this week, which may also boost bullish sentiment around the cryptocurrency.
Among the reasons for this excitement was an announcement that Franklin Templeton had filed another amendment for its XRP ET application.
Franklin Templeton was also reportedly aiming for a mid-November approval, which could occur as soon as next week.
Moreover, the same ETF was just listed on the DTCC. Such listings often occur days ahead of regulatory approval, thus adding more credence to potential approvals next week.
The Franklin Templeton XRP ETF was not the only one gunning for a regulatory green light in the coming week. Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg noted earlier this week that his company was ready to roll out its XRP ETF. Moreover, he hinted that the launch will likely occur next week.
XRP ETF approvals will likely pave the way for an interesting time ahead for the cryptocurrency. Inbound institutional flows may support its recovery once the market enters another bullish phase.