XRP Price Forecast Today: XRP Hits $0.57 as Ripple Founder Pushes for 90% Cut in Network Fees

Ripple (XRP) Price Analysis:

Ripple (XRP) price grazed the $0.57 mark on Oct 17 after weeks of laggard performance. Media reports suggests recent comments from XRPL founder Wietse Wind may have propelled XRP’s bullish breakout this week.

XRPL Labs Founder Pushes for 90%  Fee Cut

Wietse Wind, the founder of the XRPL Labs development team, has proposed a substantial decrease in the XRP Ledger (XRPL) account reserve fee. This proposal seeks to reduce the reserve from 10 XRP (around $5.50) to just 1 XRP ($0.55), a 90% cut.

Wind shared his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter), emphasizing that this change would make the XRPL more accessible, especially to users in regions with lower economic power.

Currently, XRPL mandates that each account holds a reserve of 10 XRP, which cannot be accessed while the account remains active. This reserve system is designed to prevent the creation of excessive accounts that could clutter the ledger with spam or unused accounts.

Account reserve is currently 10 XRP. We will vote for 1 XRP. People wonder why. Why not 5. Why not 2. It’s impossible to quantify the amount of users being scared off by a 2 or 5 or 10 XRP reserve.

XRPL Labs Founder, Wietse Wind, Oct 16, 2024.

However, Wind argues that the 10 XRP reserve fee requirement has become a barrier, limiting the network’s growth, particularly for new retail users. XRP’s price action in the last 24-hours suggest that this new development has been well-received by the community.

Since the ongoing crypto market rally began around Oct 3, XRP price performance had lagged behind its rival Layer-1 (L1) coins. While the likes of BTC and ETH rose to new multi-month peaks, XRP price has struggled to break past the $0.55 level.

However, following Winds tweets on Oct 16, hinting at the prospective network upgrades, XRP price breached the $0.55 in less than 24-hours The chart above shows how XRP price reached a daily weekly frame peak of $.57 on Oct 17, bringing its 14-day timeframe gains to 11.7%

Even notable early Bitcoin investor, Davinci Jeremie, brought attention to this reserve fee earlier in the year, highlighting how it might obstruct wider adoption. Wind’s proposal to lower the reserve requirement to 1 XRP could open the ledger to more users and projects, enhancing overall participation.

This explains why XPR price surged as community participants reacted positively to the upcoming votes on XRPL network updates.

Proposed Enhancements to the XRPL Network

In addition to the reserve fee reduction, Wind has suggested several other updates for the XRP Ledger. XRPL Labs has configured its validator to support not only the reserve reduction but also an increase in transaction fees.

The proposal suggests increasing the transaction fee from 10 drops (a fraction of XRP) to 200 drops. While this rise would still keep transactions affordable, the aim is to prevent spammy activities on the ledger.

Wind also suggested lowering the object reserve—funds held for specific actions like trust lines or escrows—on the ledger from 2 XRP (about $1.10) to 0.2 XRP ($0.11). These proposed changes would further enhance the efficiency and accessibility of XRPL for all users.

Boosting XRPL Adoption

Wind believes that lowering the account reserve could significantly benefit both individual users and businesses that operate on the XRPL. He suggests that reducing the reserve to 1 XRP would allow companies to more easily sponsor this cost for new users, creating a smoother onboarding process.

For example, wallets like Xaman (formerly Xumm) could absorb the cost of the 1 XRP reserve, removing the need for users to fund the 10 XRP reserve themselves. This reduced barrier could facilitate the entry of new users into the XRP ecosystem and encourage projects to explore more sustainable business models on the ledger.

Wind argues that lowering the account reserve would not only encourage individuals to open accounts but would also stimulate more projects to integrate with XRPL, leading to broader network adoption.

Potential Drawbacks and Scalability

Although Wind’s proposal has numerous potential benefits, he acknowledged that a reduction in the account reserve could lead to a surge in activity on the XRPL, which may present scalability challenges. However, Wind considers this a “good problem” to have, reflecting the increased use and adoption of the network.

He believes the XRP community is well-prepared to manage these challenges, whether through hardware improvements, system optimization, or horizontal scaling of the ledger’s infrastructure.

XRP Bull Traders Mount $40M LONG Positions after $0.55 Breakout

After weeks of stagnation, XRP price has broken past the $0.55 resistance on news of impending network updates. Recent data trends observed in the XRP derivatives market shows that bull traders have gained confidence and are now taking or riskier bets, hinting at further upside in the days ahead.

Coinglass’ Liquidation Map chart below tracks the flows of LONG vs. SHORT  leverage positions listed for a specific crypto asset, providing insights into traders short-term sentiment.

As seen above, XRP bulls have mounted $36.97 million LONG worth of leveraged positions, looming large against active SHORT positions which have fallen below the $18 million mark at the time of writing on Oct 17.

The recent surge in XRP long positions to $36.97 million, as depicted in the Coinglass Liquidation Map, suggests growing confidence among bullish traders following the asset’s break above the $0.55 resistance.

This overwhelming imbalance in favor of long positions, especially compared to the significantly lower short positions (under $18 million), signals market sentiment shifting toward expectations of further price increases. The willingness of traders to take on leveraged long bets underscores an optimistic view of XRP’s potential for continued upside.

Moreover, the sharp divergence between the long and short liquidation levels indicates that bearish sentiment is waning, potentially leaving room for upward momentum.

If shorts continue to be squeezed or liquidated at these levels, it could catalyze a cascading effect that drives XRP’s price even higher. This imbalance sets the stage for a potential rally, particularly if there is given the positive news surrounding XRP’s ecosystem and the broader crypto market sentiment.

XRP Price Forecast: $0.60 Breakout Ahead?

XRP price recorded 11.72% gains in the last 14-days, with technical indicators pointing toward a continuation of the bullish momentum. The Bollinger Bands on the daily chart show that XRP has broken above the 20-day moving average, signaling that a key resistance has been tested.

The upper band around the $0.60 mark suggests that XRP could face resistance near this level, but the breakout from the mid-band around $0.55 is a strong bullish signal.

The Stochastic RSI is in the overbought region, with values above 93, signaling that momentum is strongly favoring the bulls. This overbought condition suggests the possibility of a short-term pullback, but given the positive sentiment surrounding XRP’s network updates, this could be part of a healthy consolidation before further upside.

If momentum continues, the next key resistance level to watch would be at $0.60, which coincides with the upper Bollinger Band. A decisive break above this level could open the door for a move toward the next psychological resistance at $0.65.

In the near term, support lies at $0.55, which has now flipped from resistance. If bulls can maintain this level and consolidate around the mid-band of the Bollinger Bands, XRP is well-positioned to test higher levels.