XRP tokens linked to Ripple have regained positive traction on social media, a phenomenon that has historically preceded a contrarian price signal. The token's positive-to-negative sentiment ratio on social media spiked into what Santiment refers to as the 'FOMO zone' on April 29, 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.
According to Santiment, sentiment ratios above the FOMO line indicate overwhelmingly positive crowd commentary, which is treated 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 points to be converted 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 fact that XRP, the fourth-largest market cap in crypto, can now be used by an estimated 44 million Rakuten users at over 5 million merchant locations, traded within the Rakuten Pay app, and converted directly from Rakuten points, of which 3 trillion are in circulation, worth roughly $23 billion.
The announcement of the Rakuten Pay integration, which was hailed by Ripple's senior ecosystem growth manager Tatsuya Kohrogi as 'one of the most significant XRP milestones,' took two weeks to fully process, with sentiment building gradually before spiking this week. Despite the social media frenzy, 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, demonstrating a consistent pattern in 2026 where crowd sentiment leads price by 24 to 72 hours in either direction, and crowd extremes have marked 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 marks the start of a sustained re-rating or another headline that fades into the chart.