Since the June 30 fall, the token has partially rebounded to $0.47 as of this writing, but is finding it difficult to go further since bears are now firmly in control.
Following media reports on June 30 that suggested Citigroup might be rethinking its cooperation with Metaco, Ripple (XRP) bulls are having trouble regaining momentum. Any prospective changes to the collaboration with Ripple Labs, which recently paid $250 million for Metaco, could have an effect on the performance of XRP.
Since roughly two months ago, XRP has been on a bullish trend, rising as high as $0.54. The token’s price increase was influenced by favorable developments and industry expectations about Ripple’s continuing legal dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
However, the momentum started to wane in the middle of June, with XRP falling as low as $0.31 on June 14 as a result of legal measures taken by the SEC against Binance.US and Coinbase as part of its campaign to regulate the US crypto market.
Related: Ripple and the SEC request an extension to release the Hinman docs
Although bulls were able to gather some momentum last week and were seeking to retake the previous high of $0.54, the price crashed to $0.42 as a result of reports that Citigroup may be reevaluating its cooperation with Metaco. As a result, bears are now in charge, and XRP, which is now trading at $0.47, is struggling to advance.
The performance of the XRP cryptocurrency has suffered as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the relationship between Ripple and Citigroup, which has also increased market volatility.
Citigroup will likely drop Metaco
Citigroup has reportedly started reviewing its relationship with cryptocurrency custodian Metaco and is looking into the prospect of finding a new supplier, according to Bloomberg News on June 30. It is unknown whether this study is specifically related to Ripple, but the Wall Street behemoth has apparently begun looking for a replacement supplier.
In June 2022, Citigroup and Metaco, a company based in Switzerland, formed up a cooperation with the goal of utilizing the firm’s experience to create and test digital asset custody capabilities.
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The Harmonize platform from Metaco was integrated into Citigroup’s offerings in order to provide customers with custody and settlement services for digital assets as well as to investigate tokenization and custody options for traditional assets.
Major European banks including Societe Generale and BNP Paribas have partnered with Metaco. BNP Paribas stated that their collaboration with Metaco is still active, indicating that Citigroup’s examination only pertains to its own agreement with the custodian.
Related: Ripple-based MoneyTap adopted by three Japanese banks
As of the time of publication, neither Metaco nor Ripple nor Citigroup had commented on the Bloomberg article or the impending review of their collaboration. Given that Ripple recently paid $250 million for Metaco, there are concerns about what effect the uncertain future of the partnership between Citigroup and Metaco may have on Ripple.