- Former Acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham ignited bullish discussions around XRP when she reposted Moonpay’s “589” reference, complete with rockets as a caption.
Caroline Pham, the new Chief Legal Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of MoonPay, sparked discussions within the XRP and broader crypto community with one of her recent social media post. She did it just days after leaving her position as Acting Chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Pham Fuels 589 Narrative in XRP
On late Monday evening (UTC), Moonpay posted a video showing the lighting of Kia’s 2026 light display at the San Francisco Bay Area in anticipation of the New Year. The crypto exchange claimed that the system used 589 bulbs, fueling the narrative closely associated with XRP’s potential price boom.
Making it even more exciting was Pham sharing the same post on her personal social media account, which added buzz to the speculation. It included rocket emojis in the caption, indicating her bullish projection.
The former government official didn’t provide an explanation to her caption, which only added a certain degree of intrigue to her repost.
What 589 Means for XRP
Members of the XRP community often quoted “589” to refer to a prophetic narrative revolving around their favorite token. They typically associate it with the supposedly inevitable price target for the asset, $589 per XRP, once it gains an unprecedented level of adoption.
It’s not clear when or where the “589” speculation came to be. However, several members of the crypto community attributed it to an anonymous individual with the alias bearableguy123 on social media circles. Many suspected him of being a Ripple insider, so his posts usually attracted significant attention.
The pseudonymous individual hinted since 2018 that XRP would reach $589 at some point. This gained further traction when Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse forecasted that XRP would penetrate the $27 trillion in payment volume locked in global Nostro and Vostro accounts that year. The crypto community estimated that the token’s value could jump to those figures if its circulating supply of around 46 billion at that time captured a significant market share in correspondent banking.
Others, influenced by author and financial expert Linda Jones, linked the numbers to the unallocated designation in the ISO 4217 Currency Code. They asserted that it was reserved for XRP once it becomes part of mainstream finance.
Meanwhile, some merely dismissed the numbers as part of a long-running XRP meme. Interestingly, even Garlinghouse subscribes to the mantra, as he has only followed 589 accounts on X to date.
Final Thoughts
Whether Pham’s post was a calculated nod to XRP or a playful coincidence, the event underscores a more accommodating environment for crypto as we move forward. Having been part of CFTC and later an essential figure at Moonpay, she is now part of the very ecosystem she once oversaw. She clearly knows how to speak the language, making her intriguing post harder to ignore.
