Ripple wallets are secure, executives say after $112.5 million hack

• Ripple executive Chris Larsen was hacked on Tuesday with a few of his personal accounts compromised.
• Earlier reports indicating the attack was against Ripple turned out as misinformation.
• XRP price is down 5% with signs of an extended fall with multiple technical indicators flashing bearish.

Ripple exeuctives have assured that the platforms wallet are safe after millions of dollars stolen on Tuesday from a co-founder’s personal wallets. Nevertheless, the news has affected XRP price, which nosedived as the news added to the bearish sentinment the network is already dealing with.  

Also Read: Ripple price coils up for a dump as network offloads massive XRP reserve

Wallets are safe, Ripple executives 

On-chain detective ZachXBT reports that Ripple was hacked. The cyber criminals stole approximately 213 million XRP tokens worth approximately $112.5 million at the time. Based on the report, the hacker then laundered their loot through several exchanges, including MEXC, Gate, Binance, Kraken, OKX, HTX and HitBTC. Multiple addresses were cited as having been involved in the attack.

In a recent development, however, Ripple co-founder and executive chair Chris Larsen has corrected the misinformation, revealing that it was in fact his own personal accounts that were compromised and not Ripple. Notably, Larsen did not contradict the amount stolen but articulated that concerned exchanges were notified to freeze the affected addresses.

Even as Larsen indicates the involvement of law enforcement, the incident has become controversial. Community members are questioning why the Ripple executive did not reveal the attack until Wednesday when ZachXBT made it public.

Although the main reason for the silence is anybody’s guess, another interesting revelation is that Larsen personally owns over $100 million worth of XRP.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has come foreward to articulate that “NO Ripple-managed wallets were compromised.”

Elsewhere, Ripple price remains downtrodden, revisiting the region that represented the Fair Value Gap (FVG) between $0.4927 and $0.5111. Typically, after the inefficiency or imbalance that this order block represents was filled, XRP price was not expected to retrace it. That it has now, however, is anomalous in itself and points to abounding overhead pressure.

Ripple price outlook as XRP retraces the FVG

Ripple price is likely to extend the fall with multiple technical indicators flashing bearish. The Relative Strength Index (RSI), for one, is southbound, pointing to falling momentum. Its position below 50 is also concerning, signaling a weak price strength. This is accentuated by the negative reading of the Awesome Oscillator (AO) and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD).

If the bears have their way, XRP price could extend the fall. A break and close below the midline of the FVG (consequential encroachment) at $0.5007 is likely to confirm the continuation of the fall. This could see Ripple price test the support floor at $0.4746, nearly 7% below current levels.

XRP/USDT 1-day chart

However, if the order block holds as a support base and bulls seize the opportunity to buy the dip, Ripple price could recover, potentially going as far as the $0.5442 blockade.

An extended move north would send Ripple price past the $0.5784 barrier before confronting the confluence resistance between the 50 and 200-day Simple Moving Averages (SMA) at $0.5826 and $0.5841, respectively.

In a highly bullish case, XRP price could shatter past the 100-day SMA at $0.6020, with a breach of this barrier paving the way for the payments token to escape from below the foothold of the descending trendline. 

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