While the market has suffered losses of up to double digits in the last week – the case of Ether (ETH) which has devalued almost 22% in the period – XRP, Ripple’s token, is experiencing sweeter days. In the last seven days, the price of the digital asset has jumped 27%. This is the second-highest valuation among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, according to data from CoinGecko. In the last 24 hours alone, the crypto asset appreciated just over 10%. With the rise, the price of the sixth largest asset in market value went from BRL 1.71 on September 15 to a local peak of BRL 2.29. This is the highest price recorded for the asset in more than four months. At the time of writing this article, the price retreated slightly to BRL 2.27.
XRP token price chart for the last week. Source: CoinGecko
XRP against the market
As mentioned, the rise experienced by Ripple’s asset goes against the general trend of the crypto market. The increase in the US benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage points by the Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday (21) dropped the price of Bitcoin (BTC), for example, to R$94,455 (US$18,260) in Thursday morning (22). Considering the price change of the last 24 hours, BTC retraced 1.8%. But XRP was unfazed by the Fed’s announcement and continued its bullish rally.
SEC x Ripple
Behind the appreciation is believed to be the lengthy lawsuit by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC, against Ripple Labs. In fact, experts point out that the supposed end of the judicial process is what is boosting the digital asset, the focus of the legal dispute. This weekend, Ripple Labs and the U.S. government oversight agency filed requests for a summary judgment. That is, they asked the federal judge to complete the “unregistered securities” process without a jury trial. It is not yet known, however, who will emerge victorious from this battle that has dragged on since the end of 2020. At the time, the SEC filed a $1.38 billion lawsuit against Ripple alleging that the payment service provider in blockchain and its executives sold “security” in unregistered XRP.
Resistances overcome and highest in sight
Faced with this slightly more optimistic scenario, technical indicators began to signal an upward movement in prices, as highlighted by the cryptocurrency trader known as CoinsKid. According to him, the price overcame resistance at BRL 1.96. It is now in the ascending triangle, a pattern that generally means a bullish formation. He believes that XRP has the potential to bounce even higher to the equivalent of BRL 2.58 ($0.50) and above. At the current price, it would be up about 15%. “To confirm the long-term breakout, the XRP price must close and hold above the key resistance levels of $0.38 [R$ 1,95] in a weekly period of time”, he concluded. Read also: Binance creates global advisory board with Meirelles and former government officials Read also: Messari raises BRL 180 million in investment round supported by Samsung Next Read also: PF action fights money laundering with cryptocurrencies and investigates exchanges; group moved BRL 61 billion