It went up fast.

It came down just as quickly.

Thus is the life of XRP.

One thing seems certain, though. This well-known coin is one cryptocurrency that's always on the tip of everyone's lips.

What About the Massive Crash in XRP Price?

XRP was climbing to a record high, and for many folks, it was looking absolutely invincible. Surely there was nothing that could bring down this titan of crypto. Well, a combination of events involving South Korea (you can't blame Kim Jong Un for this one) set tongues wagging and prices dropping faster than a slippery bar of soap in a nervous inmate's hands.

After XRP spend several days crashing, it was long-term HODLers and newbie trader types who felt like they were the ones losing their grip.

It's a Battle Between Bulls and Bears

It's human emotion that moves markets and XRP is one cryptocurrency that makes people emotional. The company behind the protocol, Ripple, is taking a much different approach to cryptocurrency than Bitcoin and other alts. They are marketing a solution to enterprises and governments, including central banks. That means they're corporate through and through and their culture is unlike that of many other projects.

What's one thing about humans? They hate people and ideas that are different! Not only that, many of them hold Bitcoin and don't relish the idea of losing out to an upstart alt that doesn't toe the line of decentralization.

Market News Drives a Spike in the XRP Price Rally

So back to the South Korea situation. How did this country impact the price of XRP?

1. Coinmarketcap quietly removed South Korean crypto values from their system, causing a depression in worldwide crypto prices, including Bitcoin. (Why? It's because South Korean exchanges tend to have much higher prices than the rest of the world for the same cryptocoins. Once CMC adjusted the price, there was a market correction to lower values.
2. Coinbase put a freeze on rumors that they were adding XRP at any moment. They said they were not planning on adding any coins anytime soon. That put an end to speculation based on fake videos of imaginary "Coinbase employees or vendors" showing it on the exchange. [Source:] (https://blog.coinbase.com/our-process-for-adding-new-assets-f97b7ba65bea)
3. Rumors began circulating that the South Korean government would soon ban all cryptocurrency trading! [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-southkorea-bitcoin/south-korea-plans-to-ban-cryptocurrency-trading-rattles-market-idUSKBN1F002A)
4. The rumor mill made a quick downgrade to say the South Korean government will regulate exchanges, ban ICOs, and ban anonymous trading. (Presumably to do something about the overly high prices that consumers are paying.) So, the ban is off, and the bad news that comes with it should dissipate. [Investopedia 1/11/2018](https://www.investopedia.com/news/south-korea-ban-anonymous-cryptocurrency-trading/)

Ripple is a company that releases a lot of news and the market for XRP reacts to the news with up and down movements. With the sentiment, all potentially being bad, the price came down sharply. Naturally, many people also took profits which made the downward slide quicken.

What Could Happen Next?

It's possible now that with XRP beaten down, it will become a value to those who felt FOMO because of the rapid increase to an ATH. The good news for Ripple is that they are in talks with financial institutions about the use of XRP for cross-border settlement. More good news is that the huge Japanese exchange DMM will open and allow trading for an estimated 27 million people. That exchange will have more active users than Coinbase!

Now it's a matter of buy, sell, or HODL for the markets. Those who believe in the project and think they'll soon sign enterprise clients will continue to hold until the climb starts again in earnest. Others are getting in now ahead of a further pump. Finally, the people who just can't stand the red ink and are looking for greener pastures will bail out.

What is your opinion on Ripple and XRP? Do you plan on buying, selling, or HODLing?