After the landmark ruling in the legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that set the cryptocurrency community abuzz, in which a federal Judge in New York determined that XRP is “not necessarily a security on its face,” $XRP short sellers have dealt with over $63 million in liquidations.
A remarkable 87,224 traders saw their positions eradicated, culminating in an aggregated liquidation value of $304.4 million after the landmark ruling came out, with most of the liquidations pertaining to short positions, as crypto markets quickly rallied.
According to CoinGlass data, liquidations on Bitcoin positions have topped $68 million over that period, and were closely followed by $63 million of liquidations on XRP positions. Next came ETH positions at $47 million.
Most liquidations occurred on leading derivatives trading platforms Bybit, Binance, and OKX, with Bitmex also seeing over $1 million in liquidations over the last 24-hour period.
XRP’s price since the ruling came out amid a short squeeze, an event in which short sellers are forced to cover their positions, leading to a rapid price rally, that came amid a wave of relistings on multiple cryptocurrency exchanges.
Following the impactful court ruling, Santiment, a provider of on-chain data, reported a significant uptick in whale activity on the XRP network.
Whale transactions, denoting large-scale transfers by principal holders of cryptocurrencies, have reached unprecedented levels in 2023 with 637 whale transactions valued at over $100,000 being seen on the XRP network in the past 24 hours.
To truly understand the ramifications of these transactions, Santiment underscores the need to consider the broader context. An increase in holdings by whales and sharks, the colloquial term for substantial cryptocurrency holders, during a price surge often indicates a persistent upward momentum. Such an event could potentially lead to positive repercussions within the market.
As CryptoGlobe reported several analysts are bullish on XRP, withthe founder and manager of Kralow Capital, Thomas Kralow, suggesting it could reach a bullish target of $30.
The prediction is in line with that of other analysts, including a popular crypto market commentator recently revealing an ambitious XRP price prediction of $10 per token, based on several key events that could trigger rises for the cryptocurrency.
Kralow noted that XRP’s rally could be boosted by a potential Ripple IPO and a favorable outcome for the fintech firm in its battle against the SEC. As reported, large XRP holders, colloquially known as whales in the cryptocurrency space, have reportedly amassed a staggering 1.1 billion XRP, equivalent to roughly $570 million, since February.
Featured image via Unsplash.
