Over the last few weeks, XRP has creeped up slowly but surely to become one of the most talked-about cryptocurrencies in the space. Its price has also risen steadily through this time, beating the $3.6 level to reach new seven-year highs and triggering momentum for higher prices. While the community celebrates this milestone, there is the fact that the altcoin has not made a new all-time high, and even with all of the recent push, its inability to reach new peaks has become a cause for concern.

Are XRP Investors Getting The Short End Of The Stick?

In a TradingView post, crypto analyst ICharted made a shocking allegation, namely that XRP investors are being ripped off. The analyst pointed out that the fact that a number of bullish developments have emerged in recent times and the XRP price is still sitting well below its all-time high levels shows that investors were getting the short end of the stick.

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The analyst listed out seven developments that have been bullish for the XRP price and should’ve already pushed it to new peaks. First on the list is the election of US President Donald Trump, who is the first pro-crypto president in history. Despite the market surge triggered by Trump’s election, XRP has remained well below its all-time highs.

Next on the list is the fact that the Ripple case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2020 is nearing its end, and this has also triggered a surge. But it was still not enough for new peaks. This also comes amid mass adoption as Ripple becomes the foremost crypto settlement company in the industry.

ICharted also pointed out the myriad of partnerships that Ripple has inked, spanning from payments to real estate, and yet the XRP price continues to struggle. This has put XRP in the eye of the public, making it a well-known cryptocurrency, especially as it plans to take on SWIFT, but it is still sitting below all-time highs.

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The rise in the volume in the past year is another development the analyst points to, as well as the fact that it was able to receive an ETF approval this year, which began trading last week. Then, last but not least, is the fact that the US Congress has passed multiple favourable crypto bills this year, and yet the XRP price remains below its 2018 peaks.

Given that none of these have been able to push the XRP price to new all-time highs, the analyst warned investors that they are being ripped up on the price action. ICharted pointed to a possible price crash back to the $2 level soon, predicting that a free fall will begin in August. “The Feds are soon going to cut rates multiple times. Bitcoin tanks everytime that happens,” the analyst warned.

Featured image from Dall.E, chart from TradingView.com

What happened

One of the biggest movers in the crypto market over the past seven days has been Cardano ( ADA -3.81% ). In fact, as of 12:15 p.m. ET, this token has soared 30.4% over this time frame, marking the largest move among all top-25 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

A confluence of factors was responsible for this impressive rise in Cardano over the past week. Chiefly among the catalysts, investors are pricing in reports that Cardano will be rolling out massive updates to improve the network’s comparability, sustainability, and self-determination. These updates are expected to further improve Cardano’s scalability, making this network highly competitive with competing lightning-fast networks.

Additionally, Cardano received a massive boost from news that Grayscale would be launching a smart-contract fund, with Cardano being the largest position in said fund. It’s expected Cardano and Solana will both receive a 24% weighting in this new fund, signaling to investors that institutional capital is seeking out Cardano as a key investment right now.

So what

These announcements are a big deal for investors looking at Cardano in the context of the altcoin market. For Cardano to compete with its peers, these updates are necessary. As noted in an interview with Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson: “All these updates are coming that are massively improving the scalability and expressiveness of the system so that you’ll get the same type of performance you’re seeing from systems like Solana and so forth. Or at least in the same orders of magnitude.” These updates are expected to be rolled out between June and October, providing a big catalyst.

Additionally, institutional capital flowing into the crypto sector continues to be a key driver of investor interest in specific tokens. For Cardano, the inclusion in this new Grayscale fund is perhaps less important than this token’s impressive weighting. It appears those with their finger on the pulse of the crypto sector are pointing to Cardano and Solana as two key winners in the race for market share in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

Now what

Cardano’s rapid rise higher over the past week should not be ignored by investors. This is a cryptocurrency with some clear catalysts that could realistically drive valuation expansion with this token. As investors look for winners in this sector, Cardano is likely to continue to drive interest over the medium term.

That said, like all digital tokens, Cardano carries a higher level of risk. This investment is not for the faint of heart. As we’ve seen in the past, the crypto sector can correct in a hurry. Accordingly, investors ought to check their risk tolerance level before jumping in, while ensuring proper risk management protocols are in place, when investing in any digital currency such as Cardano.