Ripple (XRP) is once again in a do or die situation where it has to either break to the upside and exit the downtrend or fall lower to head for another correction against Bitcoin (BTC). So far, XRP/BTC appears to be holding strongly close to the 21 Day EMA and has found support within the bullish pennant it is trading in. However, the price will soon run out of room for sideways movement and will then have to make a move either to the upside or to the downside. The daily trading volume has also declined significantly which means the price can swing either way short term and traders will follow. In other words, market makers would have no trouble setting direction at this point.

As tempting as it is for market makers to lure in some bears before the actual move to the upside, they also realize the repercussions of a strong move to the downside. The majority of investors are expecting further sell-off at this point. If the market makers push the price lower in an attempt to trap some bears, they risk something larger in the long run and that is an irreparable blow to market sentiment. The majority of investors may be expecting a sell-off at this point but very few of them are prepared to bet money on it. This is because deep down they know that the bottom is either in or very close and the price could shoot up anytime now. However, if the market makers manipulate the price just to trap some bears short term, they risk spooking the horse in the long run which poses a bigger threat to their interests.

Ripple (XRP) has been on a rising spree the past few days despite overbought conditions short term. It would appear that Ripple (XRP) investors have absolutely no regard for technical analysis and are more focused on accumulation which is what we have seen them doing throughout the bear market. While most cryptocurrencies had an extended correction that resulted in a slow bleed over a long period of time, Ripple (XRP) had a relatively shorter correction. In fact, the daily chart for XRP/USD shows that Ripple (XRP) bottomed a lot sooner than the rest of the market in August, 2018 and then recovered most of its gains while the market continued to decline.

The exuberance that followed SWIFT’s partnership with R3 seems to have worn off as XRP/USD has declined significantly in the past 48 hours erasing most of its gains. However, Ripple (XRP)’s fundamentals have never been this good in its entire history. The price is at a very lucrative point from a risk/reward standpoint and as the market recovers, XRP/USD has the potential to once again be one of the top gainers in this market. The price is still down more than 90% from its all-time high which means there are some good returns to be made as Ripple (XRP) is expected to reach a price north of $5 during its next bullish cycle.