XRP price ranges below $0.60 despite Ripple stablecoin launch announcement

• Ripple announced plans to release a USD-backed stablecoin on the XRPLedger and Ethereum blockchains in 2024. 
• Ripple’s move is aimed at boosting the utility and liquidity on the XRPLedger, however XRP price continues to decline.
• XRP price is range bound below the psychologically important $0.60 level on Friday. 

Ripple (XRP) price is stuck within a tight range between its February 17 low of $0.5643 and March 18 high of $0.6686. On Friday, the altcoin traded below the psychologically important $0.60 level, at $0.5807. 

Ripple announced the launch of a 1:1 USD backed stablecoin on the XRPLedger and Ethereum blockchain, to be released in 2024. The announcement failed to catalyze a recovery in the altcoin. 

Daily digest market movers: Ripple stablecoin news fails to catalyze XRP gains

• Ripple announced its foray in the $150 billion market with a stablecoin pegged 1:1 with the US Dollar, on April 4. 
• The payment remittance firm said the stablecoin will first be released on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, in 2024. 
• Ripple explains that the move is aimed at both institutional and DeFi realms and the payment giant has plans to enhance its payment infrastructure for clients. 
• The cross-border payment remittance firm acknowledges that crypto’s future is multichain and a stablecoin needs interoperability for adoption by users. 
• The firm explains that the USD-backed token will be released on DeFi apps and will have compatibility with the existing DeFi infrastructure. 

• While the announcement marks a watershed moment for the payment firm that is currently battling the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in court, it failed to catalyze gains in XRPLedger’s native token XRP. 

Technical analysis: XRP price stuck in tight range despite positive development

XRP price has been in a decline since the March 11 year-to-date peak of $0.7440. The altcoin has failed to make a comeback to the local top, despite numerous attempts and XRP is range bound between the February 17 low of $0.5643 and March 18 high of $0.6686 for nearly a month and half. 

XRP price is likely to sweep liquidity at the daily support level, $0.5386. This level has acted as support since February 15, and held strong through multiple retests. The altcoin could bounce off the support and fill the Fair Value Gap (FVG) between $0.6185 and $0.6204, on the daily price chart. 

The red bars below the neutral line on the Moving Average Convergence/ Divergence (MACD) indicator support the thesis of a liquidity sweep at support. 

XRP/USDT 1-day chart 

A daily candlestick close above $0.6147, the 50% Fibonacci placeholder of the rally from January 31 low to March 11 peak of $0.7440, could invalidate the bearish thesis. XRP price faces resistance at the upper boundary of the FVG at $0.6204 and the daily resistance level that held steady for nearly two months now, at $0.6686. 

 

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