XRP saw a notable surge while Dogecoin (DOGE) faced a significant decline, as the cryptocurrency market reacts ahead of the U.S. inflation data release.
On Tuesday, XRP outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) and other major cryptocurrencies, rising 7%, as Ripple Labs received final approval from regulators to launch its RLUSD stablecoin on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum. This development has spurred optimism for XRP, especially as the stablecoin could be used in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, strengthening its ecosystem.
While XRP’s momentum picked up, Bitcoin held steady around $98,000, and Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), and Cardano (ADA) all saw declines of up to 2%. Dogecoin, on the other hand, led the losses, dropping 4%, while Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Floki (FLOKI) gained 1%. Overall, the CoinDesk 20 Index showed a slight gain of 0.69%.
The market is awaiting the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) data, which is due for release at 8:30 a.m. ET (13:30 UTC) on Wednesday. The report will play a critical role in shaping the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates, which may have broader implications for crypto markets in the coming months. Last month’s CPI data highlighted persistent inflationary pressures, keeping investors on edge.
Despite the positive news for XRP, some caution is warranted. Whale activity has picked up, with large XRP deposits to exchanges, particularly Binance, hitting a six-month high. More than 2.66 billion XRP tokens have moved to Binance in the past 30 days, marking the highest inflow since April 2024. CryptoQuant analyst maartunn pointed out that such whale activity often signals shifts in market sentiment, as these investors have the ability to move the market with large trades.
Historically, similar whale activity has been followed by price pullbacks, as seen in November 2023 and April 2024, raising concerns about potential short-term bearish pressure despite XRP’s recent gains.
