Ripple Gains Ireland VASP License, XRP and XLM Price Actions Exhibit Unusual Correlation

By: Eliza Bennet

Ripple's Irish subsidiary, Ripple Markets Ireland Limited, was recently granted a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license by The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). This development allows Ripple to scale the delivery of digital asset services across Ireland and potentially the European Economic Area in future, subject to further legal permissions. On the other hand, a distinct correlation between the price actions of Ripple's cryptocurrency XRP and Stellar's XLM has intrigued industry experts and investors alike.

The license details that a registered VASP can facilitate digital asset transfers across different wallets, exchange cryptocurrencies, and provide custodial services. Ripple's approval raises the count of registered VASPs in Ireland to eleven, joining prominent enterprises like MoonPay, Zodia Custody, Gemini, and Coinbase.

Concerning the distinct synchronization of XRP and XLM price actions, Ripple's Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, reasoned that a substantial level of liquidity in the XRP/XLM market would cause such a visible correlation. However, David also suggested that the significant interconnection of the digital asset market and Bitcoin's dominance could contribute to such price synchronization.

While recent market dynamics have not favoured XRP, with over 2% decline in the last month, the broader crypto industry trends could prompt parallel responses from both XRP and XLM users, hence, resulting in similar price patterns.