XRP/USD remains vulnerable despite holding a major support area around $0.23.
XRP/USD hit an all-time high price of $3.84 in January 2018 but has been in a long term downtrend that has seen it lose over 92% of its value since. And traders were braced for another dump after Whale Alert flagged a mammoth 499,999,997 XRP transfer on September 22.
Speculation remains as to whether the transfer to an off-chain wallet was a trade, but the identity of the bag holder is not a secret at all. The transfer was by Chris Larsen, a former CEO of Ripple Labs.
Larsen, who tops the crypto rich list largely from estimates of his net worth from 5 billion XRP tokens, confirmed that he moved the $115 million worth of crypto to regulated crypto service provider New York Digital Investments Group (NYDIG).
XRP/USD downtrend
Ripple formed a new top around $0.2580 in the week that Bitcoin retested the $12K peg before heavy selling pushed prices to within previously unfilled CME gap at around $9,700. Similar to the top asset, XRP/USD slipped to see bears take control and threaten to sink it below $0.23.
As of writing, XRP/USD has broken below $0.24 and a period of consolidation above $0.238 so far provides a buffer against an onslaught of selling pressure.
Importantly, bulls must wither the sell-off pressure and correct above the 50% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.239. Above $0.24, the next target will be the 20 MA at $0.246 and then the 61.8% Fib level at $0.254 on the downswing from highs of $0.2547 to $0.231 low. Taking out sellers at this level brings into focus the psychological $0.2600, the 50 MA at $0.269, and a potential retest of $0.30 on higher time frames.
However, if short term action sees XRP/USD sunk below $0.23, a sustained period of bearish pressure could see the cryptocurrency bleed to lows of $0.20. Flopping to these levels would mean the XRP/USD pair extends its vulnerability and likely suffer 100% losses on the gains made since mid-July when bulls swung from $0.19 to $0.32 highs.
For Ripple, the absence of any major move above $0.238 in the past 24 hours likely suggests buyers are intent on consolidating before making a fresh bid for an uptrend. As such, XRP/USD is headed for extended sideways action.