XRP has reached an all-time high of $2.49 in 6 years, rising nearly 30% in the last 24 hours. This price surge is an important milestone, as XRP has struggled to maintain a consistent upward trend since the legal dispute with the SEC began 4 years ago.
The breakthrough of XRP above key resistance levels raises questions about the causes of this surge. Is this the start of a new chapter for altcoins, or just a short-term spike? This on-chain analysis explores the background of the surge and the potential impact on XRP's future.
XRP Whales Drove $690 Million in Buying Pressure Over the Past 3 Weeks
About a month ago, XRP's price was $0.50 and showed no signs of rising to $1. The recent surge above $2 is even more surprising. However, the value of altcoins today has risen 355% from that point, with a market capitalization of $133 billion, surpassing Solana (SOL) and Tether (USDT).
According to research by BeInCrypto and data from the cryptocurrency online data platform Santiment, this surge may be related to notable whale activity. Over the past 3 weeks, wallets holding between 1 million and 10 million tokens have accumulated a total of $697.1 million worth of XRP.
At current altcoin values, this amounts to $1.66 billion, indicating that Ripple whales have played a significant role in driving the XRP price surge through increased buying pressure.
However, on-chain data shows that cryptocurrency whales are not the only ones driving the recent XRP surge. Sentiment data also emphasizes significant participation from retail investors.
Notably, the total number of XRP wallets has reached an all-time high of 5.5 million, indicating that many previously inactive wallets now hold a balance. This trend is further supported by network growth, which measures new addresses completing their first transaction.
In October, network growth was less than 9,000, but it has now surged to 54,700. This substantial increase suggests an increase in adoption and activity on the XRP Ledger. If this momentum continues, the XRP price surge may persist even after the recent dip to $2.35.
XRP Price Prediction: Can It Break $3?
On the daily chart, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) remains in positive territory. MACD measures momentum, and when it is positive, the momentum is bullish, and when it is negative, the momentum is bearish.
Therefore, the positive reading indicates that the momentum around XRP is positive. If this persists, it could drive the altcoin's price higher. Another indicator fueling the uptrend is the Ichimoku Cloud, which represents support or resistance.
When the cloud is above the price, it indicates resistance, and the price may decline. However, in this case, the cloud is below the XRP price. Therefore, the value may continue to rise towards $3.
However, this may not happen if XRP becomes overbought or if whales start to realize their profits. In such a case, the altcoin's value could decrease to $1.61.
