Key Takeaways
XRP’s recent market cap milestone and rising whale accumulation signal growing investor confidence, even as broader market sentiment remains cautiously optimistic.
With macroeconomic factors like U.S. CPI data and declining policy uncertainty in play, the crypto market stands at a pivotal point that could define the next wave of momentum.
XRP is in the news today after it shook up the crypto rankings with a major market cap milestone, overtaking Tether’s USDT to claim the third spot. In fact, at the time of writing, XRP’s market capitalization had surged to $168.32 billion, surpassing USDT’s $159.54 billion.
Despite this bullish momentum, however, XRP’s price was yet to test its long-term resistance at $2.90.
XRP gaining momentum?
That’s not all though as recent insights from Nick at Equities Tracker and Brian from Santiment highlighted the growing strength in XRP’s fundamentals. They revealed that the number of wallets holding over one million XRP hit a record high of 2,743 – A sign of rising whale presence and increasing accumulation.
Such an uptick in both the number of large holders and their total supply could be a sign of strong long-term confidence.
Source: Santiment
Worth noting, however, that XRP did see a temporary decline after President Trump revealed a 30% tariff plan targeting the European Union and Mexico. This news update rattled both crypto and traditional markets, though the impact was short-lived.
At the time of writing, the larger crypto market had actually rebounded, posting a 1.16% hike in global market cap. This, even as as traditional markets continued to adjust to the tariff news.
Is Bitcoin season cooling off?
For its part, Bitcoin [BTC] has been moving steadily upwards, with the crypto going well past $119,000 on the price charts. And yet, the market response has remained surprisingly calm.
According to Brian though, the reaction might be “too cool,” with the analyst hinting at a possible undercurrent of cautious optimism or market fatigue.
“It’s a bit of a muted celebration compared to previous all-time highs.”
With all these factors in the picture, anticipation is building across the crypto landscape, with many speculating that a proper altseason may be on the horizon soon. In fact, AMBCrypto’s latest analysis also echoed this sentiment – Hinting at a shift in market momentum.
Additionally, Alphractal pointed out that the U.S Economic Policy Uncertainty Index has been steadily declining, a trend that often favors risk-on assets like cryptocurrencies.
On the contrary, according to the CMC Altcoin Season Index, Bitcoin’s dominance is still high. What this means is that it’s still a Bitcoin-led phase.
What will CPI bring to the table?
Therefore, a lot now also depends on the upcoming June U.S Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, set to be released on 15 July. Forecasts predict a 0.3% month-over-month hike and a 2.6% year-over-year uptick, up from May’s 2.4%.
Hence, with the core CPI also expected to climb by 0.3%, all eyes are on whether this data will trigger a fresh rally in the crypto market or lead to a sharp pullback.
