Tokens linked to Ripple have seen a resurgence in positive discussions on social media, a trend that has often been followed by a contrarian price signal. On April 29, the ratio of positive to negative sentiment on social media for XRP spiked into what Santiment refers to as the "FOMO zone", reaching 3.9 on their tracker, the highest since March 19. This level of sentiment has historically been a contrarian indicator, suggesting that when social media chatter becomes overwhelmingly positive, the token may experience a period of consolidation or correction as demand from buyers begins to wane. The recent integration of XRP with Rakuten Pay, allowing users to convert points into XRP, has contributed to the second-highest level of bullish sentiment for the asset on social media in the past two years.
This integration, which went live in early April, enables an estimated 44 million Rakuten users to use XRP for payments across over 5 million merchant locations, trade it within the Rakuten Pay app, and convert their Rakuten points directly into XRP. Despite the excitement, XRP traded at $1.37 on Thursday, down 2.1% over 24 hours and 3.7% for the week. The pattern observed in 2026 suggests that crowd sentiment often precedes price movements by 24 to 72 hours, and extremes in sentiment have frequently marked reversals rather than continuations.
XRP has primarily traded between $1.37 and $1.60 throughout April, and a decisive break of either side will determine whether the Rakuten integration marks the beginning of a sustained revaluation or another fleeting headline.