Early yesterday, Ethereum World News had speculated as to whether this week was the week Ripple (XRP) would go back to winning ways and with prices above $1. Technical analysis had shown that the coin had retained a support level of $0.80 and a resistance level of $0.88 over the weekend. This in turn meant that if the current momentum was maintained this week, Ripple would surely cross the $0.90 and edge closer to the $1 mark.

The cause of the general cryptocurrency market rally has been theorized by a few crypto-traders and enthusiasts. The first theory was the availability of funds after the American tax season that ended only a few days ago. This means that those who have received their tax refunds, have chosen to invest in crypto.

Also to note is that some American traders had sold their crypto as soon as the IRS declared early in the year, that they will implement strategies to tax crypto trading gains. The news had been announced during a period when a lot of governments and regulators were bombarding the Crypto-verse with threat after threat. This in turn led to the market decline we witnessed during that time period.

A second theory that has been seen to float around, is the announcement by an Islamic scholar that Bitcoin is legitimate and according to Sharia law. This announcement was made around the time we witnessed a $1,000 BTC spike on April 12th and could have caused it. The announcement opened the doors to a very large religious community that estimates put at 1.9 Billion believers globally.

With regard to Ripple, the coin and project has enjoyed a faithful community of HODLers and traders since the coin hit the spotlight mid last year. There is also news that Santander will be tackling finetech through its cross border payment system called Open Pay FX. This service guarantees same day settlement in the countries of Spain, UK, Brazil and Poland. Expansion of the service to other jurisdictions is being worked on by the Santander group. They are also working on almost-instant settlements based on the 3.3 Ripple transaction speeds. Also, rumors of a Santander mobile App that does the same, are rife in the Ripple community.

All the news and announcements in the crypto-verse has surely contributed to the momentum in the current crypto-markets. One thing we should not forget, is that we as the traders and Crypto owners contribute to this market. We affect the markets with what we buy, trade and HODL. This is decentralization 100%.