XRP tokens linked to Ripple have regained traction in social media discussions, exhibiting a contrarian price signal. The token's social media sentiment ratio spiked into the FOMO zone on April 29, reaching 3.9 on Santiment's tracker.
This reading is the highest since March 19, when a similar spike preceded a sharp decline. Sentiment ratios above the FOMO line indicate overwhelmingly positive crowd commentary, which Santiment views as a contrarian signal.
Historically, when social media chatter reaches these levels, the token tends to consolidate or correct in the following days as buyers driving the social wave exhaust their demand. The recent integration of XRP with Rakuten Pay, 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 excited about the potential for the #4 market cap cryptocurrency.
The Rakuten Pay integration, which added XRP as a payment method, has made it possible for an estimated 44 million Rakuten users to spend XRP at over 5 million merchant locations, trade it within the app, and convert their Rakuten points directly into XRP. This development was hailed by Ripple's senior ecosystem growth manager Tatsiya Kohrogi as 'one of the most significant XRP milestones.' The market took two weeks to process the implications, with sentiment building gradually before spiking.
Despite the social hype, XRP traded at $1.37 on Thursday, down 2.1% over 24 hours and 3.7% on the week. Santiment also identified March 29 as a prior 'buy the dip' window, when XRP sentiment hit the FUD zone and the token bounced shortly after. The pattern in 2026 has been consistent, with crowd sentiment leading price by 24 to 72 hours in either direction, and crowd extremes marking reversals more often than continuations. XRP has spent most of April between $1.37 and $1.60, and a clean break of either side will determine whether the Rakuten integration is the start of a sustained re-rating or another headline that fades into the chart.