Understanding the XRP-BlackRock rumour and its implications

• After the BlackRock episode, bearish sentiment around the token rose 
• XRP’s network activity remained low, while its price fell marginally in the last 24 hours 

XRP was in the limelight a few days ago after a rumor emerged, one that could have had a larger impact on the crypto-market. The incident also contributed to the token’s price rallying, but the trend did not last long, especially as the market attained more clarity. While this happened, Ripple also cracked a deal with SBI Group, which helped further increase the blockchain’s adoption across the globe.

Read XRP’s Price Prediction 2023-24

Negative sentiment around XRP increases

In a recent article, it was mentioned that BlackRock, which is one of the biggest investment companies in the world, was planning to shift its focus from Bitcoin [BTC] to XRP. This was a major update, as it had the potential to change the current state of the crypto-market to a huge degree. As the information spread, XRP’s price started to go up.

Soon after however, it was revealed that news of BlackRock considering XRP as an alternative to BTC was not completely true. In fact, Budhil Vyas, a popular crypto-influencer on X (formerly Twitter), shared a tweet busting the myth. As per the same, the news is fake, with the influencer also warning investors against falling for the rumor that the world’s largest asset manager is dumping BTC for XRP. 

? FAKE NEWS ALERT: BlackRock is NOT shifting from #Bitcoin to #XRP ?

Don’t fall for the Rumors that the World’s Largest asset manager is Dumping BTC for the Ripple-backed digital asset ?

A thread ? pic.twitter.com/dPaMDVhRA7

— Budhil Vyas (@BudhilVyas) September 16, 2023

Following this clarification, XRP’s price noted a slight correction as its value headed down. Simply put, the episode did have a negative impact on XRP’s social metrics.

In fact, as per LunarCrush’s data, the blockchain’s social engagement dropped. Moreover, bullish sentiment around XRP declined by 22% while bearish sentiments rose by 5%. 

Source: LunarCrush

Ripple cracks a new deal

Only a few days before this episode, Ripple also cracked a new partnership, one that can help further increase the blockchain’s adoption in Asia. SBI Group announced the launch of an international money transfer service using the crypto-asset.

? @Ripple, Tranglo & SBI Remit have announced a joint venture, SBI Ripple Asia. The primary focus of this collaboration is to introduce Ripple’s XRP-enabled remittance solution to bank accounts in the Philippines, Vietnam & Indonesia starting this month.

Since 2017, SBI Remit… pic.twitter.com/FCF7N90Tg5

— Uphold (@UpholdInc) September 17, 2023

The partnership will provide bank account remittance services to the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia beginning in September 2023. SBI Remit will send the customer’s payment request and SBI VC Trade will send XRP in response to the request in real-time.

However, this update did not have a direct impact on the blockchain’s network activity, which remained low. BitInfoCharts’ data pointed out that blockchain’s total transactions have dropped since August. Also, its daily active addresses also fell last week.

Realistic or not, here’s XRP market cap in BTC‘s terms   

Whether this partnership will have a positive impact on the blockchain’s metrics will be interesting to look for in the future. At the time of writing, XRP was valued at $0.4942 with a market capitalization of over $26 billion.