Here’s What’s Holding Back Ripple (XRP) Prices

Many of the new potential investors looking to buy cryptocurrencies are being turned away by major cryptocurrency exchanges. In case you haven’t heard, some of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges have temporarily disabled new registrations, while others are taking longer than usual to verify new user accounts. The result? Cryptocurrency prices are hanging in the balance, with Ripple (XRP) in the lead.

Cryptocurrency prices are now in the second week of a market correction. A covert market factor is preventing prices from moving upward. Allow me to give you a brief background of what’s happening.

Cryptocurrencies entered a bull market during the latter half of 2017. Famous cryptocoins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple began selling like hotcakes as word of their popularity spread across the globe. From minors to college students, housewives, and grandmas, whoever heard of them wanted to get a taste of them.

This resulted in a digital “gold rush” of sorts. Holding their picks and shovels, everyone headed to the mines. The problem is, the mines are so overcrowded now that the gatekeepers won’t let any more diggers in.




Basically, with new crypto-buyers entering in droves on a daily basis, the exchanges that sell these cryptocoins are no longer able to take the towering load of transactions. Many of these exchanges have been left with no choice but to turn new buyers away.

Major Exchanges Selling Ripple Shut Down New Registrations

The majority of the trade volume in Ripple flows in from the South Korean exchanges, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit, and from Chinese exchange Binance. Some other popular exchanges for buying Ripple are Bittrex, Poloniex, Kraken, and Bitstamp.

With so many options available, you may think that buying XRP shouldn’t be a problem for new buyers, even if one or two exchanges are down. We wish that was the case. This is where things get depressing.

Let’s first look the Korean exchanges. Prices at all three of these exchanges are hyperinflated. The South Korean exchanges are selling XRP for about $2.43 apiece, while the same coin is trading at an average price of $1.87 at other exchanges.

This is also the reason why CoinMarketCap—the top web site for cryptocurrency prices and rankings—has removed the three Korean exchanges from its average price calculations.

So, trading at the Korean exchanges seems counterintuitive to most buyers now. Why would anyone want to pay such high premiums when the coin is trading for a much lower price elsewhere?

Now, let’s look at the next best option available. One of the biggest global cryptocurrency exchanges popular for trading Ripple, Binance, has temporarily stopped taking new signups on its platform. The exchange says it’s currently working on upgrading its infrastructure to be able to catch up with its growing user base. Here, too, new buyers are out of luck.

Then, the popular U.S.-based exchange, Bittrex, is likewise saying no to new users, citing high volume. New signups will resume only after it has upgraded its backend systems.

Bear in mind that unlike the other top players like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, Ripple is not available to trade on the largest U.S. exchange Coinbase and its sister exchange GDAX. This just adds to its comparative disadvantage.

Finally, the highly advanced cryptocurrency trading platform, Bitfinex, which had temporarily disabled new signups, has reopened its doors to new users. However, new users are warned that their account verifications could take up to eight weeks to complete!

On top of that, new users are also required to maintain a balance of at least $10,000 in equity to be able to trade on the platform. Basically, that’s a sugar-coated way to say no to new users.

Things are likewise uncomforting on other exchanges. Kraken and Poloniex, which, although open to new users, have also warned of longer-than-expected verification times for new accounts.

Cryptocurrency Exchange to Buy Ripple Easily

Long story short, it’s a sorry state of affairs for new Ripple buyers. Almost all popular exchanges are figuratively down for buying this cryptocurrency.

New investors are left with very few options now. As I see it, the only worthy option that remains to buy Ripple easily is through Bitstamp.

The exchange is still welcoming new signups and the verification process is not too cumbersome.

At this point, I won’t be surprised if you’re seeking answers to questions like: Will Ripple (XRP) prices crash now?

If you’re feeling dispirited, our Ripple price forecast may be of some consolation to you.

Obviously, this disruption will be affecting XRP prices. But frankly speaking, I don’t quite see a crash in Ripple prices just yet.

With most exchanges saying no to new Ripple buyers, the XRP price will likely stay down in the days to come. That’s until these exchanges complete their upgrades and reopen registrations.

Once everything goes back to normal, new buyers would begin boarding the Ripple rocket again. We believe this rocket would be shooting for the moon in 2018.

One of our analysts at Profit Confidential, Gaurav S. Iyer, who is a well-versed Ripple enthusiast and closely follows this cryptocoin, forecasts that Ripple prices could reach as high as $10.00 in 2018.

You can follow our daily Ripple news coverage and his price forecasts here.

Analyst Take

Rumors of a South Korean ban on cryptocurrencies sent tremors across the cryptoworld last week. Although it has finally been confirmed that there will be no ban, crypto prices are still stuck in purgatory.

This has, however, opened a window of opportunity for new buyers who are looking to buy the dip. But with most exchanges temporarily closed for new registrations, chances are that the buyers will have to wait a little longer.

Nonetheless, we believe they’ll eventually get their turn. And when they do, prices would resume their ascension.

We’re remaining bullish in our Ripple price forecast for 2018 and consider this temporary hitch to pass very soon.