Ripple price news: Why is XRP going up today? Ripple up after MoneyGram announcement

THE RIPPLE price soared again today, with XRP jumping up by more than 20 per cent since this time on Thursday. But why is Ripple rising again today?
After languishing at $1.72pm at 2pm on Thursday January 11, Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency has now bounced back to about $2.05.

It’s market capitalisation now sits at nearly £59billion ($80billion), though this is still down from its all time high of £108billion ($147.5billion) at the start of this month.

Graphs from CoinMarketCap show Ripple’s price spiked suddenly just after 2pm yesterday, surging from $1.72 to $2.25 in an hour.

Its price has since dipped back down to just over the $2 mark.

Why is Ripple rising today?
XRP’s dramatic upturn coincided with Thursday's announcement that Ripple has partnered with financial services giant MoneyGram.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted: “I’m pleased to be able to share MoneyGram has partnered with Ripple to use $XRP in their payment flows.”

Mr Garlinghouse added that the deal was just “one step in a marathon ahead” in Ripple’s goal to make cross-border payments quicker and easier.

He said: “The payments problem doesn’t just affect banks, it also affects companies like MoneyGram, which help people get money to the ones they care about.”

“By using a digital asset like XRP that settles in three seconds or less, our clients can move money as quickly as information.”

The announcement seems to have boosted confidence and put Ripple’s stock price back on track - at least for the time being.

Cryptocurrency investor and influencer Oscar Isaacs said that Ripple is now “gaining momentum” and should rise above $3 again.

He told Forbes: “Ripple has over the past month been gaining mainstream attention from the press and investors a like, not to mention numerous Reddit sub threads, coin aggregation sites and Telegram groups, which has contributed to the strong price action."

He added: "Every cryptocurrency investor and hedge fund I have spoken to have asked me about Ripple's potential in the market."

Despite criticism from some crypto commentators, Ripple hopes to continue forging new partnerships with established financial services.

BitBull Capital boss Joe DiPasquale predicts that XRP will continue to perform well on the market if the deals keep on coming.

"MoneyGram is the latest example of Ripple's masterful cadence of announcements of deals with large companies," he told Forbes.

"Every time Ripple announces a partnership, we see an increase in value."

He added: "If Ripple's strong partnerships continue, I expect its value to continue to increase.”

After the deal was announced, MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes said: “Ripple is at the forefront of blockchain technology and we look forward to piloting xRapid.

“We’re hopeful it will increase efficiency and improve services to MoneyGram’s customers.”