XRP Price News: RLUSD Market Cap Surpasses $800M – Silent Comeback to $3 Coming?

XRP (XRP) has jumped by nearly 3% in the past 24 hours, already nearing the $2.5 level, as buyers showed up to scoop up the token during Friday’s crash, as it dropped to $0.8 on some exchanges.

Last week’s flash crash may have spooked investors, but it has not stopped crypto projects from moving forward with their ecosystem growth initiatives.

Ripple USD (RLUSD) Market Cap – Source: CoinMarketCap

Ripple USD (RLUSD), the native stablecoin of the Ripple network, recently reached a new milestone after surpassing the $800 million mark in its market cap.

This showcases growing adoption of the token across exchanges and by both retail and enterprise users.

Ripple Partners with Big South African Bank

The project has been expanding its footprint in both Africa and the Middle East lately, upon securing licenses to operate in the Kingdom of Bahrain and partnering with key companies such as Absa South Africa and Chipper Cash.

“As one of the most respected and innovative banks in Africa, Absa has a strong track record of innovation and leadership, and we’re proud to support its digital asset ambitions with the most secure and compliant custody infrastructure on the market,” commented Reece Merrick, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa, at Ripple.

Ripple said that it now holds over 60 different licenses to operate its payment solutions legally across the globe, and the number keeps expanding.

These are all positive steps that keep pushing forward Ripple’s vision of becoming the world’s preferred cross-border payments platform, primarily for big corporations and institutions.

Growing demand for RLUSD underscores the success of these initiatives. Since the stable asset was launched in December, it has seen its market cap expand from $50 million to $840 million at the time of writing. A remarkable track record in such a short period.

Trading volumes in the past 24 hours have jumped by 34% for this stablecoin, and currently account for 18% of its market cap. Ripple recently shared the first audit performed by Deloitte on the reserves held for RLUSD.

This is an important step to increase the stable asset’s credibility by partnering with a well-reputed consulting firm with years of history and a positive reputation among investors.

All of these are positive developments on the fundamental front that favor a bullish long-term outlook for XRP. As network activity expands, the demand for this utility token should continue to grow over time.

Consolidation Persists as Buyers Maintain $2 Support

XRP has been consolidating for months now, moving in a relatively tight range between $2 and $3.6 which has been quite boring to watch for long-term holders.

XRP/USD Daily Chart (Coinbase) – Source: TradingView

Nonetheless, the token has exhibited a strong demand zone at $2 that should suffice to keep the price afloat even if market conditions worsen in the next few weeks.

Trump’s hostile rhetoric and measures against China endanger the Fed’s expected rate cuts for what remains of the year. If the U.S. central bank opts not to cut rates this month, that could push XRP back to $2 in no time.

The market needs a decisive breakout out of this consolidation pattern to get confirmation that the next leg up (or down) is starting.

The price is trading below the 200-day exponential moving average (EMA) right now. If we get a big push above $2.7, that could set XRP on course to hit $3 and then $3.5.

Meanwhile, if we get a breakout above $3.6 at some point, that could set things in motion for the next leg up toward $5 or higher if this consolidation is interpreted as a flag pattern and the prior uptrend is used as a reference to estimate how high the token could go.