XRP predictions – is there any hope for 2020?

If you participate in or at least follow the markets, you’ll know that predicting cryptocurrency prices is not an exact science.

The markets are affected by many internal and external pressures that can spur a sudden breakout or landslide.

Here, we’ll examine some of the possible hits and misses facing Ripple in the coming year and take a look at XRP predictions for 2020 and beyond.

A quick look at XRP’s past performance

As with all major cryptocurrencies, XRP’s price hit its peak in early 2018 when one XRP was worth as much as $3.65. However, we all know how savage 2018 was in the cryptocurrency space. With XRP price, it was a veritable bloodbath.

Even after a fairly positive start to 2020, XRP has still lost more than 90% of its value from its 2018 heyday, making it one of the worst performers of 2019. The price today is currently trading at around 22 cents a token.

However, they say that what goes up must come down – and vice versa. So, could there be hope for Chris Larsen’s creation in 2020 after all?

XRP predictions from cryptocurrency analysts

According to InvestingHaven, yes. The cryptocurrency prediction website stated that the bearish momentum around XRP at the end of 2019 was simply “traction in adoption” and that XRP holders can “expect a bullish outcome before March 2020″.

Other XRP predictions that tend toward the bullish (but not in such a short time frame) are those of WalletInvestor.

Initially, the service predicts a bad year ahead for XRP. According to its research, the token may drop to as low as four cents.

However, if you can handle a little FUD, it may be a good time to accumulate XRP at such a low price. WalletInvestor believes the price will recover to around $0.46 by the end of 2020, $0.58 in 2021, and over $2.00 in 2025, making XRP a buy and hold investment.

TradingBeasts’ XRP predictions are not so bullish. The forex and cryptocurrencies trading platform sees little action in 2020, with an average price of $0.26 (and a low of $0.21). Ripple’s token may see some growth in 2021, reaching around $0.36 – and up to $0.50 in 2022.

If TradingBeasts’ XRP predictions aren’t exactly bullish, LongForecast’s predictions are definitely bearish. The cryptocurrency prediction platform sees the average price of XRP at $0.26 in 2020 and calls for a significant drop in 2021 to $0.15.

Factors that could influence XRP price in 2020

It pays to remember that when it comes to price predictions, there’s no solid proof that anyone has it right. There are many factors surrounding XRP that could affect its price both positively and negatively.

For example, Ripple is now working with more than 300 financial institutions including the likes of Santandar Bank and American Express. These are companies using Ripple’s technology RippleNet to improve their payment services.

If these partnerships continue to rise and more and more institutions benefit from Ripple technology, that should help to bolster XRP price, at least for the long term.

Moreover, the company currently employs more than 230 staff in the US and is valued at over $10bn, making it one of just 11 blockchain unicorns. Ripple was also recently ranked as one of the best places to work by Fortune magazine.

More to the upside, XRP futures seem to be the flavour of the day, with more and more exchanges adding this market including powerhouse Binance earlier this month.

Trouble in the XRP camp

However, it’s not all plain sailing for Ripple’s XRP. The company has a prolonged lawsuit looming over it which could be key to XRP’s future (let alone price).

The class action filed against Ripple by the US SEC states that tokens were allegedly sold as unregistered securities.

While everyone was expecting a decision on January 15, Judge Phyllis Hamilton took Ripple’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit into consideration, postponing the verdict indefinitely.

XRP may not have been declared as a security, but it has also not had the case overthrown. It continues to loom like a black cloud on the horizon. Every cloud has a silver lining, however. If XRP is declared a commodity, its price could suddenly skyrocket.

Then there’s the question of a Ripple IPO. Last week at Davos, Brad Garlinghouse hinted that an IPO may be on the cards for Ripple. He called it a “natural evolution” for the company.

An IPO could be bullish for XRP investors in the long term in that it could bring in a slew of retail investors and a renewed interest in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

However, it could also have a negative impact on XRP tokens as investors look to buy stock instead. In fact, furious XRP token holders have already taken to Twitter to vent their anger on how an IPO would make the XRP token redundant.

Then there’s the continued dumping of XRP on the market diluting the token’s price. Co-founder Jed McCaleb constantly offloads tokens on the already over-supplied XRP market, causing it to haemorrhage value. And there are still more than 220 million XRP tokens to be released by Ripple (just waiting to be dumped).

Wrapping it up

If 2019 was a year to forget for Ripple, 2020 could mark a turning point (in a “sink or swim” type of way). From IPOs and lawsuits to greater adoption of its technology and growing use cases, there’s a fair amount of conflicting forces revolving around Ripple.

It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how the year unfolds. XRP to the moon? Unlikely. But if you do have faith in the token and the bullish XRP predictions, now could be the time to stock up.