Bearish Ripple price predictions returned to the market following Sunday’s 5.6% drop in the XRP/USDT pair. The recent downside seen in the pair was triggered fundamentally by the news that Ripple Labs was seeking a new legal team as its case with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) drags on. CEO Brad Garlinghouse indicated in a recent interview that the company would leave the US if it lost the lawsuit with the SEC.
It has also emerged that Stellar Founder and former Ripple executive Jed McCaleb has significantly depleted his Ripple holdings, which stood at 9 billion XPR tokens at some point. McCaleb, who left Ripple Labs in 2014 following a dispute with fellow execs, is now said to hold less than 81 million XPR tokens.
The collapse of the 3AC hedge fund has also heightened the bearish impact of these negative fundamentals. The effect in the market continues to unravel daily as the list of exchanges, and crypto firms that lost money to the saga continues to grow.
Technically speaking, the XRP/USDT pair is trading in a range formed by the 0.3822 resistance and the 0.2972 floor. However, the rejection at the range’s ceiling on 24 June and the lower peak of the 8 July pinbar candle has set the stage for the bearish Ripple price predictions currently playing out in the market.
The recent decline points to an emerging head and shoulders pattern on the daily chart, with the head formed by the peak at the 0.3822 resistance on 25 June 2022 and the shoulders formed by the highs of 16 June and 8 July 2022. The pattern is confirmed on a decline below the 0.2972 support. This opens the door for a measure move that targets the 0.2360 pivot (6 September and 2 November 2020 lows). Further price deterioration targets 0.1785, a price low not seen since 29 December 2020.
The bulls need to see a break of 0.3822 to invalidate the emerging head and shoulders pattern. A break of this barrier brings in 0.4460 (15 May 2022) as the initial harvest point for the bulls. The 23 June 2021/20 July 2021 lows form a new upside barrier at 0.5166. A higher print at the 0.5885 resistance (30 January 2022 low) requires a break of 0.5166. Additional harvest points lie at 0.6581 (26 January and 5 May 2022 highs) and 0.7102 (26 April 2022 high).
This post was last modified on Jul 11, 2022, 10:45 BST 10:45