Tokens linked to Ripple have seen a resurgence in positive discussions on social media, a trend that has historically been a contrarian indicator for prices. On April 29, the sentiment ratio for XRP on social media spiked into what Santiment refers to as the "FOMO zone", reaching 3.9 on their tracker. This is the highest level since March 19, when a similar spike was followed by a sharp decline in price.
When sentiment ratios exceed the FOMO threshold, it indicates that the majority of crowd commentary is overwhelmingly positive, which Santiment views as a contrarian signal. Historically, when social media chatter reaches these levels, the token tends to either consolidate or correct in the following days as the demand driving the social wave begins to dissipate.
Partly due to the recent integration of XRP with Rakuten, allowing users to convert their points into XRP, the asset is experiencing its second-highest level of bullish sentiment on social media in the past two years. Traders are excited about the fact that the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has been integrated into a major Japanese wallet application. The trigger for this surge appears to be the Rakuten Pay integration, which went live in early April and added XRP as a payment method across the ecosystem.
This deal enables an estimated 44 million Rakuten users to spend XRP at over 5 million merchant locations, trade it within the Rakuten Pay app, and convert their Rakuten points directly into XRP. With 3 trillion points in circulation, worth roughly $23 billion, this integration has significant potential. Ripple's senior ecosystem growth manager, Tatsuya Kohrogi, described this development as "one of the most significant XRP milestones." The market took two weeks to fully process the implications, with sentiment gradually building before spiking this week.
As of Thursday, XRP was trading at $1.37, down 2.1% over 24 hours and 3.7% over the week, despite the intense social media activity. Santiment also identified March 29 as a prior "buy the dip" opportunity, when XRP sentiment hit the FUD zone and the token bounced shortly after.
The pattern throughout 2026 has been consistent, with crowd sentiment leading price movements by 24 to 72 hours in either direction, and crowd extremes often marking reversals rather than continuations. XRP has spent most of April trading between $1.37 and $1.60. A clean break of either side will determine whether the Rakuten integration marks the beginning of a sustained re-rating or another headline that fades into the chart.