Ripple (XRP) has reached the end of the line against Bitcoin (BTC). There is little to no hope for the price to break a historical downtrend against Bitcoin (BTC) just yet. The weekly chart for XRP/BTC shows that Ripple (XRP) has currently reached overbought levels against Bitcoin (BTC). XRP/BTC has already faced rejection at the top of the descending channel and should fall back into the channel anytime now. It is likely that most whales used Ripple (XRP) as a hedge during the recent correction and now that they have no need for it, they are likely to sell their bags for Bitcoin (BTC). Ripple (XRP) did not follow the same path as the rest of the cryptocurrencies during the recent correction. While the market was falling, Ripple (XRP) was rising for the most part.

Initially, it might have been retail interest in this coin that kept it floating while others were sinking. However, to think that it stood ground for the most part even during one of the most brutal could not have been without the blessing of the whales. Seeing as how Ripple (XRP) investors like to dissociate themselves from Bitcoin (BTC), they would easily believe if Ripple (XRP) were to trade independently without the influence of Bitcoin (BTC). So, the whales did some work to establish this notion and the retail investors in Ripple (XRP) took it from there. It is too early to tell the long term intent behind such behavior but this was definitely orchestrated. It did not just happen. It could be the whales trying to keep the price above a certain level to protect their long term investments or it could be a move to maintain interest in Ripple (XRP).





Regardless of what Ripple (XRP) faces now, it did gain from its independent moves during the crash. The market cap of Ripple (XRP) briefly exceeded that of Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) became the second largest coin by market cap for quite some time. As expected, this again led to debates of “Flippening” and “Decoupling”. Ripple (XRP) investors love the idea of decoupling from Bitcoin (BTC). So, when Ripple (XRP) overtook Ethereum (ETH) in market cap, investors were looking at Bitcoin (BTC) next. That did not last for long, but still a lot of investors who bought Ripple (XRP) during or just before the crash did a lot better than those holding other coins.

Right until the month of August, XRP/USD had formed a giant bullish gartley pattern and was expected to begin a new trend form there. The daily RSI for XRP/USD back then was a lot lower than it is right now and a reversal seemed likely. However, the market was due for a final wave of capitulation and thus Ripple (XRP) had to follow. XRP/USD is currently trading below the trend line it had held since 2017. The previous support has now become resistance. Ripple (XRP) tested this resistance in September but as seen on the chart, was rejected and pushed back into the small ascending channel. Ripple (XRP) is expected to continue to trade within this small ascending channel till late 2019 after which it is very likely to begin a rally towards a new all time high.