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The rival Bitcoin XRP token and the Dogecoin meme currency soared on Monday, with amateur investors focusing on new assets following the GameStop saga and Elon Musk increasing interest in cryptocurrencies.
The XRP went up to 50% before dropping again abruptly. The latest high was 21.27% to $ 0.59668 per currency at 7.50 am ET.
Dogecoin was 28.36% higher at $ 0.03929, after falling sharply from a high of more than $ 0.07 on Friday. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, fell 0.89% to $ 33,726.
Last week, day traders on the Reddit Wall Street Bets forum sent the shares of the video game store GameStop to the heights in an effort to squeeze the hedge funds that had been betting against the shares – and to make a lot of money.
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The army of amateur investors appeared to have focused on a wide range of targets on Monday, with silver reaching its highest level in 8 years and XRP and Dogecoin jumping.
XRP is a network of cryptocurrencies and digital payments created by the American company Ripple. It plummeted last year after the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a lawsuit against Ripple for allegedly conducting an offering of unregistered securities, which Ripple denies.
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency “meme” created in 2013, apparently as a joke, but which has gained an increasing number of followers. A cryptocurrency is a secure digital currency, usually without a central controlling authority.
Tesla founder Elon Musk encouraged the recent rise in interest in cryptocurrencies. In a Sunday night video on the Clubhouse app, Musk said it would be funny if “Dogecoin became Earth’s currency in the future”.
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Part of the price increase for the XRP was driven by a concerted effort among currency fans, echoing the GameStop phenomenon. A group in the Telegram messaging app called Buy & Hold XRP has reached the maximum limit of 200,000 members.
However, the strategy looked unstable shortly after 7 am ET, with the price dropping dramatically. A Reddit user said, “Okay, I want to know who did this. Who lowered the 74 cents xrp to 60 cents? I’m not mad, I just want to talk.”
Naeem Aslam, market analyst at Avatrade, said that small retailers “love” XRP because it is cheaper than Bitcoin, but has a fairly large market capitalization.
“What if [Ripple] winning your case against the SEC, we could see some serious upward moves for the XRP, “he said.