XRP surged 25% before February 1st. The pump lasted for hours
A messaging channel gathered tens of thousands of people to buy XRP all at once at 8:30 AM on February 1, 2021. The stated goal: to trigger a short squeeze like GameStop or Dogecoin. The price rose 16%, then 25%, and there were still forty-eight hours until H-hour. The figure repeated in messages was one: 140,000 members. The euphoria, however, hid an uncomfortable question that almost no one wanted to face.
From 40,000 to 140,000 members in a matter of days
The call originated in a channel titled “PUMP & HOLD XRP FEB 1st, 2021 @8:30AM EST”. The directive spread through networks and was replicated, reaching, according to the messages exchanged, 140,000 members. The precedent cited was explicit: the coordinated assault on GameStop and the rise of Dogecoin. The logic repeated was always the same: if we are many, the market moves.
The precedent was unsettling. Days earlier, an exchange had limited purchases of certain assets. Those who remembered it warned: the risk was not only that the coin wouldn't rise, but that the platform would block sales when the price surged. The warning was buried under the noise.
What entry prices were handled by those who entered early
In the preceding days, the coin moved. Some bought at 0.24, 0.28, 0.31, and 0.33 euros taking advantage of dips. Others arrived late, at 0.37, and confessed to having sold shortly before due to lack of liquidity. The repeated target was symbolic: one dollar. The most ambitious messages spoke of breaking the all-time high of 3.6 dollars; the more prudent saw it as a pipe dream. What was clear was that no one was buying based on fundamentals: the discussion focused on who got to the party first.
The dress rehearsal: the PNT pump
Before the big event, there was a dry run. A minor coin, PNT, was announced by surprise. The pattern was recognizable: someone bought days before at a ridiculous price, alerted the group, and the volume multiplied. PNT went from 0.000053 to 0.003 in minutes[/B]. One participant made 300 euros by buying without looking at the price and selling at lightning estimulante ilegal. Another warned that as soon as the coin was announced, the savvy ones had already pumped it. The play was obvious. This episode served as a mirror: anyone who stopped to think understood who really wins in these operations.
The rise ignores technical rules
As the hour approached, classic analysis lost its meaning. One message pointed out that the chart already discounted all available information, so the pump wouldn't happen at 2:30 PM Peninsula time but was already happening. Others recalled the context: the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was entangled in a pending lawsuit with the US regulator, the SEC, which threatened to define everything in the medium term. The crash on the same day erased up to 15% in a matter of minutes, after having touched +40% at midday.
The balance: almost no one truly came out with money
The closing accounts were desolate. One person entered at 0.30 euros, sold at 0.37, and regretted not selling at 0.58, when they could have made 5,000 euros and only recovered 1,000. Another started with 1,000 euros on Saturday and closed with 200 profit, their best sale at 0.54 and their worst purchase at 0.50. A third lost 100% of their accumulated gains and 10% of the capital they had put in. The one who invested 50 euros went from a +40% to losing 15% of their investment in a single meal. The phrase that summarized it all was unsigned: whoever sells on time gets paid; whoever waits for the pipe dream pays the bill.
The Flare airdrop and the long term
Aside from the pump, part of the conversation shifted to the Flare airdrop distribution. Those who held 4,000 XRP would receive 4,000 FLR multiplied by 1.0073, presumably between May and June. The doubt about whether the distribution would withstand the lawsuit with the regulator remained unanswered. The tacit consensus that lingered was that in an environment of general increases, almost everything makes money if left alone; the difficult part, and from which no one emerged unscathed, is knowing when to cut losses.
If the pump was a self-fulfilling prophecy, why did so many buy at the peak believing they would be on time to sell at the crest?
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication.
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