XRP due for rally after European bank deal, South Korean bullish accumulation?

XRP traded just above $2, remaining flat in the past weeks. The token still sees increased activity on Southeast Asian markets, while Ripple tries to grow its influence in Europe. 

XRP aims to remain influential and stage a price recovery after a recent period of sideways trading above $2. XRP hovered around $2.04, with a weaker recovery compared to other altcoins and tokens. XRP retains a market cap dominance of 3.96%, near its yearly high. 

For now, XRP open interest remains near a six-month low of $1.36B, as traders have lost interest in the asset and expect more months of sideways trading. XRP still awaits another hype period, despite some positive news on the influence of Ripple and its products. 

XRP still has a high mindshare on social media at 16.4%, recently rising by over 31%. 

Ripple partners with Amina Bank in European expansion

Ripple announced a new partnership with Amina Bank AG, growing its influence in the European market. Amina Bank is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and has a global reach. This will be the first European bank to use Ripple’s licensed end-to-end payments network. 

Amina Bank aims to integrate blockchain operations with its traditional banking payment channels. Using Ripple’s network may smooth out some of the interaction of the bank interface with blockchain channels. Ripple’s chain will be used for faster, cheaper value transfers outside the traditional payment infrastructure. 

“Native web3 businesses often run into friction when working with legacy banking systems,” said Myles Harrison, Chief Product Officer at AMINA Bank. 

“This is particularly the case for cross-border stablecoin transactions which traditional banks are yet to widely adopt. Our clients need payment infrastructure that can handle both fiat and stablecoin rails simultaneously, but traditional correspondent banking networks weren’t designed to support this,” said Harrison.

The bank can also serve as an on-ramp for digital assets and access to the specialized stablecoin RippleUSD (RLUSD), along with other stablecoins.

Whales are coming back to XRP

The XRP narratives and price pressures are sometimes independent from Ripple’s success. XRP is getting its biggest boost from the markets in Southeast Asia, especially Upbit. XRP trades account for about 11.9% share of Korean won activity. 

South Korean exchanges are also showing a new wave of demand. Upbit is showing an increase in XRP withdrawals for the first time since 2023, potentially signaling a return of retail accumulation. The new trend matches other signs of accumulation for XRP. 

Based on Cryptoquant data, XRP is still attracting whale-sized orders. Large-scale holders are still trading XRP despite the price drop, possibly signaling accumulation. At the same time, retail keeps holding, while most of their recently bought tokens are underwater. Whales also distributed XRP at prices above $3, but bought back at a lower range, preparing for the next breakout. 

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