XRP Price Jumps On Coinbase Rumors

XRP, Ripple’s digital currency and the third-largest cryptocurrency, saw its value jump by double digits on Monday (March 5) — recently up 16 percent — as speculation abounds it could have an exchange listing.

According to news from CoinDesk, based on comments spreading across social media, investors think XRP’s price will continue to move higher since Ripple’s Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse is scheduled to appear on CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Tuesday (March 6). The CEO is expected to be joined by Asiff Hirji, the COO of Coinbase. While the two executives’ appearance on the post-market show may be a coincidence, the report noted it’s nevertheless fueling the rumors that Coinbase — which currently allows trading of bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ether — will support XRP trading.

The report noted another driver of the price of XRP could be due to a surge in trading volume in South Korea.

In late January, XRP’s price ballooned after MoneyGram and Ripple joined forces to pilot a real-time settlement system and protocol that incorporates the cryptocurrency into MoneyGram’s payment flows. The pilot is being tested through xRapid.

MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster that amid optimism in a future in which new ways of moving money across borders in real time are beginning to emerge, a cautionary note must ring loud and clear. The excitement, Holmes told Webster, is alive and well — and “absolutely fascinating.” Use cases are emerging in cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology, but separating the hype from the hope can be a challenge, both acknowledged.

“It’s hard to wrap your head around the valuations … and what is driving them, other than the expectation that at some point it will all get figured out and work,” Webster said.

Holmes likened the emergence of bitcoin and others to mining from days of old … really old, as in the Gold Rush. In lieu of pickaxe and shovel, you dig (or, in the age of cryptocurrencies, mine via server farm), find something “and suddenly you are worth a [lot] of money.”

But Holmes made it clear that’s the speculative part of the crypto world — not where MoneyGram sees the value or value proposition.