Ripple (XRP) plunges as major funds and exchanges withdraw support, liquidating positions and driving the price lower
The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has had a rough week. Its price collapsed—at one point falling more than 65%—after the SEC announced an investigation into Ripple and two of its executives.
XRP’s long-term prospects now hinge on the outcome of that lawsuit and on whether exchanges reduce their support in the short term. Week-over-week, XRP has lost a substantial -52.33% of its value. Both BTC and ETH outperformed XRP despite their own declines, falling just -3.22% and -12.32% respectively.
At the time of writing, XRP trades at $0.27, down -57.30% from the previous month.
XRP/USD
XRP’s price plunged after the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple and its executives. The decline accelerated when funds such as Bitwise announced they were fully liquidating their XRP holdings, and when several exchanges declared they would no longer support XRP. The latest downward move was sharp, driving the price as low as $0.21 before it found support.
XRP established a meaningful support level at $0.21, a point that previously served as support in July.
Daily price chart for XRP/USD. Source: TradingView
On the technical side, the daily RSI for XRP is flirting with oversold territory. Trading volume has been heavy during sell-offs and relatively light during upward retracements.
The decline appears to have paused at $0.21, which looks like a solid support area. In the near term, XRP will likely consolidate between nearby support and resistance levels around this price.
One-hour chart for XRP/USD. Source: TradingView
Viewed on the one-hour timeframe, the drop in XRP was not a chaotic panic but a strong downward move driven by fundamental developments. XRP is currently trading within a range bounded roughly by $0.25 and $0.30.
Unless further negative news emerges, XRP is unlikely to break significantly lower. However, if additional adverse developments occur, a larger sell-off could push the price below $0.15.