XRP price crashed in the first quarter, erasing some of the gains made in November when it jumped by almost 500%.
Ripple (XRP) has entered a bear market after dropping over 35% from its January high. It was trading at $2.1564 on Tuesday, just above the crucial support level at $1.9120.
XRP declined even after achieving several major milestones during the quarter. The most important Ripple news was the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to end its litigation.
The conclusion of Ripple’s five-year legal battle means the company now has a clearer path to making deals with large U.S. firms. According to CEO Brad Garlinghouse, many US companies avoided partnering with Ripple while it was entangled in legal proceedings.
Ripple aims to become the leading alternative to SWIFT, the global messaging network that handles over $150 trillion in transactions each year. To reach that goal, it needs to establish partnerships with thousands of banks.
XRP also dropped despite Ripple securing money transmitter licenses in New York and Texas. It additionally received authorization to offer financial services in the United Arab Emirates.
Another notable achievement was the growth of Ripple USD (RLUSD), which has reached a market cap of nearly $250 million. Ripple hopes the stablecoin will be widely adopted in decentralized finance and other industries.
RLUSD has outpaced larger stablecoins in terms of daily trading volume, surpassing USDS, PayPal USD, and Honey.
Further, Ripple has attracted multiple XRP ETF applications from firms like Grayscale, WisdomTree, Canary, and CoinShares. An ETF approval would likely lead to increased inflows from Wall Street investors.
XRP price technical analysis
The daily chart shows that XRP is at risk of a strong bearish breakdown. It has formed a head and shoulders pattern, with the neckline at $1.9117. This pattern is one of the most widely recognized bearish formations in technical analysis. Notably, this neckline aligns with the 50% Fibonacci retracement level.
XRP is also on the verge of forming a death cross, as the gap between the 50-day and 200-day moving averages continues to narrow. A break below the neckline at $1.9117 would signal further downside, with the next key support level at $1.5370, the 61.8% retracement, which is about 30% below the current level. A drop below that level could push the price toward $1.
