- The XRP price has moved sideways in the past few months.
- It remains 32% below its highest level in 2023 after the SEC lawsuit.
- The coin has formed a head and shoulders pattern on the daily chart.
Ripple (XRP) price had a mixed performance in 2023. While the coin jumped by over 86% during the year, it remains much lower than its YTD high. It has slipped by more than 32% from its highest point in July. In contrast, Bitcoin has surged to its highest point since 2022 while Solana’s market cap has soared to over $50 billion.
Buy the rumor, sell the news
Fundamentally, Ripple had a relatively good year after an American court delivered a landmark ruling in June. In it, the judge ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) erred in designating XRP as a financial security.
As expected, XRP price surged hard after the ruling. It was also joined by Stellar Lumens (XLM), which also soared to its highest level during the year. However, these gains were short-lived as the coins retreated and never recovered. This situation is known as buying the rumour and selling the news.
XRP had other catalysts during the year. For example, Ripple Labs spent $250 million acquiring Metaco, a company that offers custody services. It also acquired Fortress Trust, a company that provides crypto investments. This acquisition gave it access to Fortress’s payments license in Nevada.
Read more: How to buy XRP.
Still, XRP price performance has not been all that good. While Bitcoin price rose by over 162% in 2023, XRP jumped by just 86%. Other big coins like Solana, Avalanche, and Injective rose by over 500% during the year.
This performance is likely because investors doubt Ripple’s promise of simplifying digital payments for financial institutions. Besides, many experts believe that companies can bypass Ripple’s On Demand Liquidity (ODL) features and use the readily available stablecoins to do the same.
The other reason why XRP price is that its promise for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) has become challenged. Many politicians, especially conservatives, have come against CBDCs, which they believe are tools for government control.
XRP price forecast
Turning to the daily chart, we see that the XRP price has moved sideways in the past few months. It has remained inside the support and resistance levels at $0.5722 and $0.7342. The coin is also consolidating at the 50-day and 25-day moving averages.
Most importantly, it seems like it has formed a head and shoulders pattern. In price action analysis, this is one of the most bearish signs in the market. Therefore, I have a feeling that the Ripple price will either have a bearish breakout in 2024 or lag the broader market.
