- XRP sales increased six-fold in Q3 2018 compared to Q2 2018
- Analysts see XRP’s intrinsic value close to $1.75
- Fears of centralization and ongoing lawsuits persist
After surging by more than 12 percent in the past 24 hours, the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, XRP looks primed to give astronomical returns according to a report published by Picolo Research.
Impressive Q3 Sales Results for Ripple and Growing Adoption
Established in 2015, Ripple Labs Inc., the parent company of Ripple is seeking to disrupt the traditional mechanisms of cross-border payment remittances – including the long settlement time (2-5 days), locked-up funds, and the error-prone SWIFT payment system.
The report by Picolo Research notes the sharp increase XRP direct sales witnessed in Q3 2018. Compared to $16.87 million in Q2 2018, XRP sales experienced an almost 6x increase in sales in Q3 2018 with $98.06 million – resulting in 481% QoQ and 400% YoY growth.
On the other hand, total sales rose to $163.33m, which represents a 122% QoQ and a 213% YoY increase.
It’s worth pointing out that such impressive results came amid a market which was dominated by the bears for the majority of the time with very little volatility. Even the global XRP trading volume suffered a 16 percent decline compared to Q2 2018.
In addition, a slew of partnerships further bolstered the case for Ripple’s product xRapid. The cross-border payment platform teamed up with three international exchanges in August 2018 to enable seamless payments on a global scale.
On a more recent note, TechCrunch co-founder Michael Arrington stated that close to $50 million worth of XRP was moved for a minuscule transaction cost of about 30 cents, which is a testimony to the efficiency of the product.
Ripple has also been spearheading a lobbying group in Washington to create a friendly legislation for the cryptocurrency industry. Issues concerning the regulation of cryptocurrency firms have already been raised to prominent government bodies – including the IRS, Congress, and the U.S. SEC.
Future Valuation and Key Risks
The report posits that the XRP token has an intrinsic value of $1.75. It’s worth highlighting that the analysts use a conservative approach to arrive at the figure, not taking into account the tokens burnt, the growth of Ripple’s market share, and market share of other non-bank financial institutions.
Lastly, the report sheds light on the risks associated with XRP. The report established that there is no direct relationship between the valuation of Ripple and XRP, even though some correlation does exist.
Also, concerns of XRP being centralized were also stressed upon, as Ripple owns approximately 60 percent of total tokens.
