Ripple (XRP) is on track to beat its all-time annual high of $0.33 achieved back in February. XRP is currently trading around $0.30 after a 17.57% gain over the past seven days. Part of the positive momentum comes from the overall market sentiment, which is quite bullish. Most coins seem to follow Bitcoin’s price, and the top cryptocurrency is on a tear aiming for its all-time high of $20,000 achieved back in December 2017. Currently, BTC trades above the $17,600 mark after a 15% gain over the past week. The big question is can XRP reach its all-time high of $3 a mark achieved back in January 2018. Even though this looks highly unlikely by the end of this year, if the current momentum is sustained, there is no doubt that the target will be reached in 2021.
Other than the general bullish market momentum, a few other factors are driving the price of XRP, which will be explored later in this piece. As it’s the case with bull markets, many speculators get interested in the market’s goings and rush to join trading platforms to ensure they don’t miss out on the action. Searches for how to trade Ripple on various exchanges are peaking according to Google trends. On typical crypto exchanges, you get to buy the token, store and trade it as you like, or you could opt for platforms like PrimeXBT, where you can trade CFDs for XRP and a few other top coins like BTC without having to worry about where to store them.
XRP Technical Outlook
A quick glance at the charts indicates that XRP’s price movement correlates with that of BTC. XRP rallied to break past the $0.2650 resistance level before continuing to gain pace and settle above $0.28 above the 100 simple moving average over the past four hours. The upward movement would gain pace above $0.2850 and $0.2920 levels before going past the $0.30 resistance.
There is an initial support near the $0.2940 level, which is close to the 23.6% Fib retracement level where the recent rally from the $0.2647 low to $0.3010 took place. Now the next major support lies close to the $0.2850 level. According to the charts, the 50% Fib retracement level where the recent rally originates is close providing support. Additionally, there is a major bullish trend line forming with support near $0.2700 for the XRP/USD pair on the four-hour chart.
Currently trading around $0.3015, XRP faces a huge resistance near $0.3030, and if it can break past the $0.3040 resistance level, the price could rise towards the $0.3120 and $0.3150 in the short term.
Failure to clear the $0.3030 and $0.3040 support levels could see XRP experience a downside correction, with $0.2850 being the first key support. According to technical indicators, the 4-hour MACD for XRP/USD is gaining momentum in the bullish zone, and the RSI for the same period is well above the 65 level. The major support levels lie at $0.2940, $0.2850, and $0.2770, while the major resistance levels are $0.3000, $3040, and $0.3050.
Other Factors Fueling XRP Rally
Recently news broke out that Ripple was planning to move out of the US to other markets the company considers favorable. With Joe Biden now elected president of the United States, stringent crypto regulations are expected to follow, and Brad Garlinghouse, CEO, Ripple has voiced these concerns in the past. The company has established a new regional headquarter at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in what seems like a phased move out of the US.
Lack of regulatory clarity seems to be the issue for Ripple in the US. Last month Ripple Labs announced it planned to move either to Japan or Singapore, with other viable options at the time being Switzerland, UK, and UAE.
As of now, the company is focused on the happenings within its ecosystem and has shown an intention to continue its buyback program to support pricing for its new line of credit product, which was launched in the second quarter of this year. The credit product line is a loan facility based on the XRP blockchain where people can borrow XRP tokens.
