A market pundit believes there’s no hidden agenda to suppress the price of XRP, shares the reason behind recent stunted growth.
For context, XRP only saw a surge from $2.28 to $2.6 following Ripple CEO Garlinghouse’s disclosure days back that the U.S. SEC had dropped its appeal in the long-running lawsuit against the company.
Some had widely believed that the legal battle, spanning four years, was a major factor suppressing XRP’s price. However, despite the lawsuit nearing its end, XRP failed to break the $3 mark, leading to questions about the reasons behind its stalled momentum.
Notably, market analyst and software engineer Vincent Van Code addressed these concerns on X, explaining why XRP’s price had not reacted as many expected.
He argued that the primary factor limiting XRP’s growth was not a hidden institutional agenda but rather market mechanics, including high-frequency trading, arbitrage, and price manipulation by large traders.
Market Manipulation and Low Volume
Van Code stressed that in low-volume environments, it becomes easier to manipulate price action. He noted the presence of multiple small orders, some below 6 XRP, which he attributed to “trade dusting.” This practice artificially inflates trading volume and creates an illusion of liquidity.
“Make no mistake, price is being manipulated,” he stated, explaining that the system was balancing XRP’s movements against Bitcoin and Ethereum, both of which were experiencing heavy sell-offs.
Despite these, Van Code reassured his audience that he was not selling, dismissing the situation as temporary market noise.
No Hidden Agenda, Just Market Mechanics
One concerned investor questioned the motive behind the manipulation, asking whether institutions were intentionally suppressing XRP’s price to buy more time before entering the market. Van Code dismissed this theory. “Oh god no. It’s purely to make money,” he replied.
Oh god no. It’s purely to make money, the bots are ran by BINANCE VIP customers who have limitless millisecond trading data, high frequency trading, arbitrage across multiple tokens, to get an unfair advantage.
The see orders before you do, and so can dump or pump. They…
— Vincent Van Code (@vincent_vancode) March 20, 2025
He claimed that high-frequency trading bots, operated by Binance VIP customers, had an unfair advantage due to their access to millisecond-level trading data.
These traders, leveraging arbitrage across multiple tokens, could see and react to orders before retail investors. Van Code alleged that this allowed them to manipulate price movements, either pumping or dumping assets at will.
“The majority of exchanges source liquidity off Binance,” Van Code claimed, asserting that while Binance might not directly engage in manipulation, it creates an environment where such practices thrive. He alleged that Binance profits massively from spreads, fees, and liquidity-related payments, while retail investors are left at a disadvantage.
For years, some XRP investors have speculated that institutions deliberately kept the asset’s price low to accumulate at cheaper levels before making a big move. Van Code dismissed this theory, asserting that the price movements were simply the result of typical market mechanics.
“There is no hidden plan to suppress XRP price,” he said. “Just good old-fashioned shorts, longs, dumps, pumps, trade dusting, arbitrage.”
Further, he reiterated that Binance itself was not necessarily engaging in manipulation but claims it was complicit in allowing its VIP traders to access data and features that enabled these practices.
Long-Term Holding is the Best Strategy
According to Van Code, the best way for retail investors to counteract these manipulations is not by attempting to out-trade the high-frequency bots but by adopting a long-term holding strategy.
Specifically, he stated that when trading volumes are low, market makers receive hefty fees to provide liquidity, making high-frequency bots less effective.
“Retail are sitting ducks,” he noted. “You can’t beat them in trading. You can just buy and hold, that will cripple them.” He admitted that he had given up trying to time the market, instead focusing on long-term accumulation.
