• Popular analyst Michaël van de Poppe expects XRP to participate in the next bull cycle in 2022 and claim its previous all-time high.
• Apart from SEC settlement, Ripple’s foray into smart contracts, sidechains, and NFTs can help fuel the XRP rally.

Over the last few months, investors in the crypto space have been going gung ho about many new altcoins after their solid gains. At the same time, old players like cryptocurrency XRP have been largely ignored to a great extent.

XRP enjoyed its position as the Number 3 cryptocurrency in the crypto space for a very long time. However, it has been continuously slipping the ranks over the last year. This is especially true after Ripple entered a legal battle last December 2020 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

But popular crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe believes that XRP could prove to be an underdog going into 2022. The analyst also explains that XRP has been one of the oldest players in the crypto space. Furthermore, he adds that XRP is dominating a lot of social discussions taking place in the crypto landscape.

Of course, Poppe likes to be realistic here without giving any insane price targets of $100 or so. As we know, Ripple has been claiming that XRP is one of the fastest cryptos for cross-border settlements. If we remember, XRP boasted a settlement period of just 4 seconds back in 2017. However, Poppe believes that it’s no more a USP for the cryptocurrency as of now. Many other altcoins in the crypto space are capable of doing the same.

Ripple’s foray into broader crypto landscape

The emerging competition hasn’t deterred Ripple from further development. Shifting its momentum from just being a payment system, XRP is deep-diving into other aspects. Ripple aims to become a smart contracts platform apart from having sidechains and NFTs.

One of the major triggers to the XRP price rally in 2022 is the conclusion of its case in 2022. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently stated that there’s good progress in the Ripple vs SEC battle. He remains hopeful that we could be reaching a conclusion by the next year.

This could be a major fuel as investors have been waiting on the sidelines for a very long period of time. In fact, the SEC’s ongoing battle has prevented XRP from participating in the mega altcoin bull run of 2021. Also, if we compare to other altcoins in the space, XRP’s rally to its previous all-time high seems long overdue.

During the recent market correction last weekend, XRP lost its crucial support at $1 and tanked to a low of $0.65. Although it bounced back 40 percent from there, XRP continues to stay under pressure as of now. At press time, XRP is trading 8 percent down at $0.77 being the eighth-largest crypto by market cap.

Poppe optimistic about XRP

Poppe adds that XRP has been subject to a lot of negativity this year and this will change in 2022. Thus, he adds that if we are heading for the next bull cycle over the next year, the potential price targets for XRP could be $2.87 and $4.33.