XRP Among Worst Performers in Last Week’s Market Rally

XRP has shown poor performance compared to the top cryptocurrencies, down 1.07% in the past week to reach $0.52 on October 30. Over the same period, the broader crypto market added $160 billion, as Bitcoin rallied above $70k and briefly topped $73k, triggering a wave of short liquidations. 

Besides XRP, other weekly losers among the Top 20 were TON (-3.5%), DOT (-2.05%), AVAX (-1.9%), LEO (-0.32%), and ADA (-0.39%). This weakness of altcoins can be attributed to the increased Bitcoin dominance, as investors are shifting their capital to the king of crypto to capitalize on its surge. At the time of writing, the Altcoin Season Index stands at 27, which means that out of the top 100 coins ranked on CoinMarketCap, only 27 currently outperform Bitcoin. 

SOL and ETH, however, have bucked the trend of altcoin outflows, adding 4.53% and 5.63%, respectively, over the last week. The biggest gainer among the top 20 was DOGE, surging 20.9% due to Donald Trump’s mention of the Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E), a government agency that currently doesn’t exist but is expected to be established with Elon Musk as its head in case of Trump’s win in November 5 presidential elections.  

Bitcoin’s ongoing rally was boosted by net positive inflows of $479.4 million into spot Bitcoin ETFs on October 28. The leader of the inflows was BlackRock’s IBIT at $300 million, followed by ARK Invest’s ARKB at $59 million. According to CryptoQuant data, over the past month, Bitcoin ETFs were adding on average $257 million a day, contributing to the steady increase in the price of the cryptocurrency. 

While the underlying issue of altcoin underperformance is growing Bitcoin dominance, XRP also faces uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the Ripple vs. SEC case that could extend into 2025, as the US regulator has requested a deadline extension for submitting the filing of its principle appeal brief against Ripple. The seemingly never-ending battle took a new turn in August 2023, when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Ripple’s XRP sales violated federal securities laws only when sold to institutional investors, imposing a $125 million fine on the company instead of the $2 billion requested by the SEC. The partial win gave the XRP community hope and is likely to set a precedent for the crypto industry if the ruling stands the appeal from the regulator. 

XRP had a muted reaction to Ripple’s cross-appeal in the SEC’s case that followed the notice of appeal filed earlier this month. The appeal challenges Judge Torres’ ruling on institutional sales of XRP, arguing a misapplication of the Howey test. 

Despite the lack of significant developments in Ripple’s case, some XRP bulls are still betting on the coin skyrocketing in the near future. For instance, Twitter/X analyst @egragcrypto predicts XRP as high as $7.5 before the end of 2024 if the price manages to break through the resistance at $0.5930. 

Another crypto analyst @DefendDark suggested that XRP will experience sustained growth once Bitcoin dominance is in decline. 

It’s worth noting, however, that Bitcoin dominance is currently on the rise, propelled by Trump’s increasing election odds. The increased volatility of the crypto market is to be expected around the election time, analysts estimate.