I love the market valuation argument, let me explain why it is so incredibly wrong.  Let's do a hypothetical scenario real quick...

First take the global supply of circulating currency, depending on your sources that figure is somewhere between the $1-$5 Trillion USD.  Now take the most dominant financial sector in the world, for better or worse, that sector is non-renewable energy (fossil fuels, coal, petroleum, natural gas, etc.)  That energy sector has a valuation of over $700 Trillion USD.  SPOILER ALERT: It's not precious metals that back the world's economy (and therefore, centralized banking), it's energy.

You're incorrect in saying that Ripple's XRP token is 'almost used by most banks all over the world'...but for the XRP holder, yes that would be amazing someday.

Let's go back to energy, and the hypothetical scenario of major financial institutions adopting XRP as a mainstream asset class.  As the global community is finally waking up to blockchain technology, and starting to realize that it's uses aren't solely restricted to finance...well let's just say that those major financial institution are already heavily vested.

People still think Bitcoin is "decentralized"...that is hilarious.

Anyhoo, so even if Ripple released the total supply of pre-mined XRP into the market (100 Billion), that still would only equate to ≈ 0.01428% of the total market valuation of the non-renewable energy sector.  That's barely even a drop in the bucket.  Hell that's not even a molecule of water in the bucket.  If you think that price is limited because of market cap, you really need to start thinking on a larger scale. Ripple Labs, Inc. is never going to dump the total supply out into the market, that would make absolutely no sense whatsoever.  A more likely scenario, is that all the XRP being stored up in escrow, can now (or eventually) be sold to the major financial institution in a "block trade" transaction, operating outside of the open exchanges as to limit volatility.

But guess what, that event (or those events...you know multiple institutions like Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, etc.) is going to be made public knowledge after the transaction, so what do you think that's going to do to the price of XRP after that news hits?

Oh yeah, and anyone still doubting that Coinbase is going to offer XRP eventually...I'm sorry, but you need to get your head examined.


I may be new to crypto, but I am not new to banking, finance, technology or common sense.  Sorry to rain on the parade, but centralized banking and world govenments aren't going away, nor would I ever want them to.  I know so many of you have a H.O. for anarchy, libertarianism, and decentralized infastructure, but I'm sorry...that's just now how things work.

So why not position yourself (early) in the most promising project of them all?  I'm not here to bring forth collapse of the world's banking instiutions, I'm here to work with that momentum to capitaize on an opprtunity with the potential for astronomical gains.  I just don't understand why everyone is so adversed to making money in this community, I really don't.  I think it's because most people are only looking for a quick buck, and just can't recognize long-term value when it's mushroom stamping them accross the face.

--Disclosure: I'm long BTC, ETH & XRP
✌

Hey thanks for chiming in and adding your two cents.  I agree with you in that the "easy money" and/or "pump & dump" phase of Ripple XRP is well and over with.

Thank God...

But what's left behind, is a prime opportunity for investors to start building aggressive positions, while minimizing risk and exposure with such low prices (imho).  You know, my father had the opportunity to partner with Bill Gates back in the 70's when they were both budding CPU engineers in it's infancy.  He backed out in 76' because the investment seemed far "too risky" and insolvent at that time.

Now my father passed well over a decade ago, and I'm still stuck picking up the pieces he left behind.  So if I can reallocate a small portion of my capital over to a "speculative investimenet", one which is nearly guaranteeing to be the most successful of all digital assets on the market today...

Well, that's pretty much a no brainer to me
 

Best of luck trading everyone 👍

Well nobody chimed in, that's okay.

I made a YouTube video explaining my thoughts if anyone is interested in a great BUY opportunity...
https://youtu.be/eIIMtgM47f0

✌

For what it's worth, I've been a long time follower and HODLer of Ripple.  I consider myself a seasoned practitioner of technical analysis, and have years and years of experience actively trading in securities.  It's just my opinion of course, but I really think this is a good entry point for XRP.  I don't think we are going to see any retracement of support held back on the 24th, in fact this may be the beginning of a turnaround for XRP...I know its been a rough couple of weeks.

Do your own DD of course, and I am by no means a qualified financial advisor...just a newbie to the crypto realm, trying to help others secure a foundation in this market.

Feel free to add your two cents and start a discussion on the topic, I always love hearing what people have to say about XRP.  Q2 should be interesting...


Good luck out there everyone 👍

I'm building a long-term position and plan on continuing.  I've purchased 3 large blocks so far.  One at 0.75, another at 0.89, and my most recent at 1.05.  I understand people profit taking, it's not a bad idea at all.  Crypto trading is extremely simplistic from a technical analysis standpoint, especially for someone with a long history in securities (me lol).  I'm not worried about the long-term, I won't be selling for quite some time, years probably.

But I am interested in nabbing up as much as possible in the 0.50-1.25 ish range, at opportune times.  I'm sure I'll be glued to the screen for the next several hours at least.

Anyway, best of luck trading everyone
 

XRP just started taking a dive.  Anyone have any ideas, other than technical breakdown of support back on 2/18?  Any major news just break, or is this just simple trader psychology?  My guess woul be the latter
 

P.S. Long term Ripple HODLer

OP here.  Big thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread so far.  I plan to move my XRP to a hardwallet option soon.

A somewhat related question.  If I "withdraw" all my XRP from my exchange, and then transfer that amount to a wallet, would that be considered a taxable event for a U.S. citizen?  I know the IRS has made some changes to the tax code for 2018.  I understand tax law pretty well when it comes to securities, but crypto investing/trading is whole new ballgame.

If that isn't an event that needs to be recorded, another hypothetical question...

What would stop me from taking a position of say...100,000 XRP stored in my wallet, and then uploading it to a different exchange offering the highest price per token when I decide to sell, as opposed to the original exchange where I bought the XRP in the first place (which might be offering a drastically lower price)??

Is this a common practice in the crypto realm, my guess would be...absolutely??

Again, thanking everyone in advance for your input.
#n00b #learningtheropes
👍

I've recently been accumulating a position in XRP, but I feel somewhat uncomfortable storing 100% of those tokens at my exchange.  I've been trying to verify a Gatehub Wallet for over 7 weeks now...still pending verification.
 
Where else can I store my Ripple?  I'm not too familiar with the various wallet services out there (still pretty new to crypto investing).  Does anyone have any solid recommendations??
Thanks for any feedback!!

Glad some of y'all have some common sense here 👍

I wanted to update this thread for anyone who might be following and/or still cares.  So I first submitted my request and verification documents back on 12/29/2017.  My account was FINALLY verified earlier this morning.  So yes, verification for U.S. customers is a thing, it just might take you 42 days or so to get it done.
 
Hang in there people!!

HODL-4-LIFE
☮

@warningsigns A.K.A. David Schawartz?  Is that you lol??  That response would have me fooled

You're right, the tech is dead on, but the infrastructure to implement is far off.  Listen, I know it's been a wild ride for all the major exchanges, and keeping up with the exponentially increasing demand would be impossible for just about any entity...cept maybe Amazon

I'm just asking for (and so are thousands and thousands of us) just a little more transparency from all the major players.  The hooey statement given by BITSTAMP in regards to account verification is "up to 2 weeks".  GATEHUB is saying "up to 10 business days".  Well I've been waiting significantly longer with both options.  KRAKEN and BITTREX are no longer accepting new registrations.  BITFINEX will only accept you if you deposit $10,000 USD or more (talk about "centralized control of an economy").  COINBASE and BINANCE don't offer my preferred currency pair.  And I'm sorry, but I don't have much trust in the hundreds of other "cryptocurrency exchanges" that aren't widely accepted and/or accredited...I'm not going to trust my portfolio in the hands of CletusCoin (sorry if that's a real thing).

I'm really not trying to bash on any major exchange here....but for the love of God, just be real with us!!

I know everyone is busting their ass to keep up with demand, please just don't flood us with unrealistic expectations.  I would much rather an exchange or wallet service tell me that due to the massive recent interest in crypto trading, new account verifications are ranging anywhere between 2-6 months to process.  I agree, it's not a tenable solution, but at least it would be honest.  And it would save me from logging on every other hour or so, to see if any progress has been made.

I WILL CONTINUE TO WAIT, AS I CAN VERY MUCH SEE AND RECOGNIZE THE LONG-TERM POTENTIAL HERE...I (AND MANY OTHERS) ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE.

I was just very much looking to get in during this latest crypto pullback, but I don't think that is going to be possible.  I'm going to buy my preferred digital currency, at pretty much whatever price I can get it at.  I will continue to buy and add to my position during retracement periods.  I will continue to buy and add to my position on the way up.  I actually don't intend to sell any digital assets I require for many years to come.  I just am very much wanting to be apart of this market...and it really sucks not being able to.

Asset appreciation requires active market participation...and guess what...we aren't being allowed to participate.
 

It will take you weeks if not months to purchase on an exchange...even if you start the account verification process today.  And a vast majority of reputable exchanges aren't even accepting new customers right now anyway.  Best of luck even getting in...

Subject pretty much sums it all up.  I've been waiting 25 days for account verification with BITSTAMP, with no response on the support ticket I generated a few days back.

Same boat with GATEHUB.

 

Sure sucks for the hundreds of thousands (if not more) of us who want to actually participate in the crypto markets...but are not being allowed to.  Does anyone have any idea how long the account verification process is taking with BITSTAMP and/or GATEHUB??!  Any feedback would be very much appreciated, thanking you in advance for your time!!

Subject pretty much sums it all up.  I've been waiting 25 days for account verification with BITSTAMP, with no response on the support ticket I generated a few days back.

Same boat with GATEHUB.

 

Sure sucks for the hundreds of thousands (if not more) of us who want to participate in the crypto markets...but are not being allowed to.  Does anyone have any idea how long account verifications are taking with BITSTAMP and/or GATEHUB??!  Any feedback would be very much appreciated, thanking you in advance for your time!!

BINANCE: Doesn't offer my currency pair.
BITTREX: Does offer my currency pair, but are no longer accepting new registrations.
BITSTAMP: Offers my currency pair, but I've been "pending account verification" for over 16 days now.
GATEHUB: Also still pending verification.
KRAKEN: Plagued with bugs, and has prioritized new customers extremely low on their shit to do list.

The barriers go on and on...

Any new money wanting to hop in the crypto game is just goin to have to wait.  I'd plan on not being able to actually start a position until the end of February or March...if you start the account verification process today that is.
 

Okay so I'll admit that I am brand spankin' new to the crypto realm, but I am a very experienced retail investor in securities (usually day or short-term swing positions).  From everything I've observed so far in crypto trading, well I don't mean to sound arrogant here, but it looks REALLY simple.  Technical breakouts, dip buying at well established support, fibonacci retracement zones...this market is a technicians dream!! Everything seems to fit so well!!  I think even just a basic understanding of technical analysis can go a long way to becoming proitable in this niche.

That being said, volatility is pretty substantial here as opposed to traditional markets.  If you aren't already an experienced trader, cryptocurrency is probably not the best way to test the waters.

If you are new to the game, and absolutely have to invest in something, my advice would be to just Ronco it.   "Set it and forget it".  Go land yourself a sweet entry price and don't even look at it.  Check back in 2019 and beyond and see where you're sitting.  Watching markets as volatile as these everyday will damn near give you a heart attack.  As always make sure to do your own DD before investing in anything, and prolly no more than 5-10% of your total portfolio would be a wise move.  I think the world government...err...I mean centrealized banking, is going to start infiltrating this game way more than they already have.  It's prolly best not to have too much tied up in this game. 

Best of luck trading everyone!!

Figured I'd ask here on this forum, instead of submitting an official support ticket with Bitstamp (which will further increase the backlogs of tickets, which will further increase the current verification times).  Has anyone whos previously posted on this thread made any real progress??  Man, an official status update from Bitstamp would be so freaking awesome...but even that seems to be too much to ask for.

I'm not a fan of how misleading Bitstamp's website is.  According to them, it clearly states that increased verification requests are "causing backlogs of up to 2 weeks before they are processed".  Well it's obvious that processesing times are taking much longer than two weeks, so then why mislead the public?  I'd rather them give a realistic estimate.  If it's going to take f***ing 16 weeks to verify my account, then just tell me that from the get go.