Why is Ripple (XRP) Price up 8% Today?

Key Insights:

• Ripple (XRP) price peaked at $0.56 on Feb 15, but it still appears undervalued when compared to its rival Layer-1 coins in the top 10 crypto rankings,
• Crypto whales have invested $120 million in the last 5-days in a bid exploit its undervalued status. 
• The weekly Bollinger Band chart shows that the bulls face a key resistance at the $0.57 area. 

Ripple (XRP) has only mustered a modest 8% upswing between Feb 9 and Feb 15, Meanwhile, all top-10 ranked crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL) have all scored double-digit price gains during that period. 

XRP bulls reacting to this rare market phenomecon could trigger more bullish action in the coming days.

XRP is undervalued compared to other Top-10 ranked crypto assets 

Since the recent low recorded on Jan 23, the crypto sector has rebounded by 30% at press time on Feb 15, adding $450 billion in overall market capitalization in the process.

As often observed in the early-phases of a typical crypto market rally, top-ranked Layer-1 coins like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) are currently leading the way with double-digit percentage gains respectively, ranging from 14% to 20%. 

XRP price has also delivered a positive 8% growth performance, moving from $0.51 on Feb 9, to a monthly peak of $0.56 on Feb 15. But XRP price appears to be underperforming, when compared to its rival Layer-1 coins in the top-10 rankings, 

As seen in the chart above, standout performers, BTC, SOL, ETH and AVAX have all scored 15% gains or more, while XRP sits lowest with 7.42% gains within the 7-day timeframe. This rare market dynamics could attract investors attention to XRP in the coming days.

Crypto whales invested $120M into XRP in the last 5-days

Market data shows that XRP’s 8% weekly gain is by far the lowest among the top 10 ranked crypto assets. Looking beyond the price charts, on-chain metrics shows that whale investors are making strategic moves to capitalize on XRP’s undervalued status. 

The Santiment supply by addresses chart below tracks real-time changes in whale wallets with a minimum balance of 100 million XRP (~$50 million). The chart shows that XRP’s largest whale cohort held a cumulative balance of 8.4 billion at the start of the week on Feb 10. 

But as depicted by the blue trendline, the whales have rapidly acquired 220 million coins in the last 5 days, bringing their balances to 6.62 billion XRP at press time on Feb. 15. 

With XRP currently trading at $0.55, the newly-acquired coins are worth approximately $121 million. When whales make such a large capital inflow within a short period as observed above, it’s usually a strategic position for an imminent price rally. 

The timing suggests this strategic cohort of crypto whales are looking to exploit XRPs current undervalued status, in anticipation of outsized profits when it catches up to the overall market trend. 

And if retail investors also take the cue to mirror the whale’s bullish positions, XRP price could enter an accelerated price rally in the coming days. 

XRP Price Forecast: Can it Reach $0.60? 

Drawing inferences from the charts analyzed above, the standout performers in the top 10 crypto asset rankings have scored an average of 15% gains this week. Another 7% upswing from $0.55 – $0.60 will see XRP price catch up to that market average. 

However, the Bollinger Band technical indicator shows that, in the weekly timeframe, XRP faces major resistance at the $0.57 20-day SMA. 

But if the bullish whales intensify their buying trends, XRP price will likely break above that initial sell-wall and rally towards $0.60 as predicted. 

Conversely, the bears could invalidate this bullish forecast if XRP price tumbles below $0.45. But as depicted by the lower Bollinger band, the looming buy-wall at $0.49 could pose a challenge.