XRP tokens linked to Ripple have seen a resurgence in positive discussions on social media, a phenomenon that has historically served as a contrarian indicator for prices. On April 29, the token's positive-to-negative sentiment ratio on social media spiked into what Santiment refers to as the "FOMO zone", reaching 3.9 on the firm's tracker.
This is the highest reading 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 crowd's commentary is overwhelmingly positive, which Santiment interprets as a contrarian signal.
Historically, when social media chatter reaches these levels, the token tends to consolidate or correct in the following days as the buyers driving the social wave exhaust their demand. The recent integration of XRP with Rakuten, allowing users to convert points into XRP, has contributed to the asset's second-highest bullish sentiment on social media in the past two years. Traders are enthusiastic about the fact that XRP, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, can now be used by an estimated 44 million Rakuten users across over 5 million merchant locations.
The trigger for this surge in sentiment appears to be the Rakuten Pay integration, which was announced in early April and added XRP as a payment method across the Japanese wallet application's ecosystem. Users can now spend XRP, spot trade it within the Rakuten Pay app, and convert their Rakuten points directly into XRP. With 3 trillion points in circulation, worth approximately $23 billion, this integration has significant implications for XRP's adoption.
Ripple's senior ecosystem growth manager, Tatsuya Kohrogi, described the integration as "one of the most significant XRP milestones." The market took two weeks to fully process the implications, with sentiment building gradually before spiking this week. Despite the social buzz, XRP traded at $1.37 on Thursday, down 2.1% over 24 hours and 3.7% on the week.
Santiment also noted that on March 29, XRP sentiment hit the FUD zone, and the token bounced shortly after. This pattern has been consistent throughout 2026, 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 start of a sustained re-rating or another headline that fades into the chart.