Forex in this article
• Ripple is not even worth a fifth of what it was in 2018
• So far this year’s XRP performance has been disappointing
• Technical signals give cause for hope
The ripple coin XRP has not been able to escape the downward trend in cryptocurrencies that has been ongoing since November 2021. Worse still, XRP has been in a constant downtrend since the end of the 2017/2018 boom – which could end now.
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That is why Ripple should rise
As “Coincierge” recently emphasized, XRP was able to quickly jump over its important, long-standing support line at 0.42 US dollars thanks to a “mini rally”. XRP is currently trading at $0.4302 (as of May 17, 2022), above this key level that the coin carved out as a support line 70 weeks ago. According to Coincierge, recent price gains could be signs of a bottoming process. If Ripple manages to clear the resistance at 56 US cents, the way to the 68 cent mark could be clear. “Staying above this can help to invalidate the bearish thesis on the market,” classified Jannis Grunewald at “Coincierge”. “With the price rally, XRP technicals have signaled the start of positive price action.” Capital inflows have been exceeding outflows since May 12th. However, despite the “bullish crossover”, it is too early to announce the end of the sell-off. Nevertheless, Ripple could outperform other cryptocurrencies at least in the coming weeks, according to the forecast.
Big Ripple hype 2017/2018
XRP is not just an ordinary cryptocurrency, but has a special function. The company behind it, Ripple Labs, intends to establish a widely recognized digital peer-to-peer payment network based on blockchain technology. Although the high ambitions have not yet materialized, the platform’s internal means of payment, i.e. the XRP coin, has experienced an interim boom: within a few days, the market capitalization of the tokens rose from eight to over 120 billion US dollars in December 2017, before leveling off again at just under $40 billion in February 2018.
Ripple founder Chris Larsen’s fortune peaked at $59 billion during that amazing bull market in early 2018, according to Forbes data, making Larsen the fifth richest person in the world at times. The reason: Ripple Labs holds a high percentage of XRP, the company even finances itself exclusively through the increase in value of the Ripple coins. As a result of the Ripple sale, Larsen’s former fortune has also shrunk.
Weak price development in recent years
The Ripple coins are now trading significantly lower than they were in January 2018. Even in the gigantic crypto year 2021, the XRP rate rose, but was unable to get anywhere near the record range it had previously reached. XRP was not spared from the broad sell-off of Bitcoin, Ether & Co. since mid-November 2021. On the contrary: This year’s losses of XRP are even particularly high at 49.52 percent. One reason for the relative underperformance could be the setback the Ripple project received in December 2020. The Ripple founder Larsen got caught in the crosshairs of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Larsen is said to have sold unregistered securities – namely XRP tokens – and in this way raised $1.3 billion. With the court case still ongoing, a potential SEC conviction could significantly eclipse Ripple’s future.
After the month-long losing streak, Ripple is only the sixth largest cryptocurrency in the world, the market capitalization of Ether is more than ten times as high.
Of course, time will tell whether Ripple can build on the old record levels – the said chart technical impulses could give the XRP bulls a boost.
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