Disclaimer: The information presented does not constitute financial, investment, trading, or other types of advice and is solely the writer’s opinion.

• XRP consolidated beneath the highs of a range over the past three weeks.
• This consolidation can see a breakout provided Bitcoin defends $22.3k.

Ripple [XRP] saw some volatility in the price charts in the past two weeks. A breakout past $0.412 was reversed rapidly, but the region of support at $0.39 has been defended thus far. The price consolidated beneath the $0.412 range highs.

How much is 1, 10, 100 XRP worth?

During this consolidation, the price formed another lower timeframe range. Meanwhile, Bitcoin [BTC] has a bullish bias so long as it trades above the $22.3k area. What can be expected from XRP on the charts this week?

A 12-hour bullish order block was retested: Can buyers expect a strong reaction

The price has made equal highs and equal lows in the past week. XRP ranged from $0.39 to $0.416 since 30 January. In this period, the OBV slipped downward to show sellers were dominant. The RSI attempted to climb above the 60 mark, but was beaten back. At press time, it stood at 40 to show bearish momentum.

In the daily timeframe, the market structure was bullish. This bias would flip to bearish if a daily trading session closed below the $0.386 mark. To add further confluence to this bullish bias, the area marked in cyan is a 12-hour bullish order block.

Near-term bulls can look to buy XRP just above the $0.39 level and book a profit on the retest of the resistance at $0.41. Breakout traders can wait for a move above $0.42 and a subsequent bullish retest to buy. Similarly, sellers can wait for a descent below $0.38 and a bearish retest to enter short positions targeting the mid-range mark at $0.373.

Realistic or not, here’s XRP’s market cap in BTC’s terms

Open Interest sees a small dip as prices flattened

The Open Interest chart showed OI has fallen since January 24. In this period, XRP faced rejection at $0.426 and could not break above $0.416 in the past few days. The inference is that bullish sentiment was weakening. A breakout past $0.42 alongside a surge in OI will probably show strong bullish momentum.

The funding rate data showed positive rates across major exchanges. This meant that long positions paid the short sellers, hinting at a bullish outlook.

• Ripple’s development head held the firm’s ground on the global reserve currency proposal.
• XRP’s momentum drifted towards the reds.

A section of the Ripple [XRP] community has long hoped for approval for the token’s buyback proposal since 2021. But all that desire may now be a pipe dream as the project’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) put a nail to the coffin.

How many are 1,10,100 XRPs worth today?

When asked about his comments on the matter, CTO David Schwartz said it was ridiculous, and directly called it a “scam”.

I haven’t looked at it very closely. But what I have seen looks an awful lot like a scam to me. If we’ve learned anything from 2012 and 2022 it’s that anyone promising high returns with low risk is almost certainly going to rob you.

— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) February 5, 2023

Offer down and out as XRP slides

This response comes after Ripple’s legal counsel had recently opined that the suggestion was impossible. Those who supported the proposal argued that XRP could become the world’s reserve currency.

And, a buyback XRP rate based on the supply potential held by governments could help a retail reclaim. 

While the legal opinion may have reflected some chance of approval, the public rebuttal from the development team may now mean there is no chance.

Following the clarification, the XRP price lost 2.71% of its value in the last 24 hours while exchanging hands at $0.3989. But does the blockchain-based payment token have the capability to oppose the trend?

According to the daily chart, the XRP momentum was trending downward. At press time, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) was 50.21. The RSI displays the momentum of an asset. And, its movement towards the downside means that XRP had lost its buying power and; subsequently, could head towards an oversold region.

Besides the RSI, the Awesome Oscillator is another indicator that reflects the momentum of an asset. At the time of writing, the AO was above equilibrium.

But its bullish readiness was not in play due to the consistent red bars produced above equilibrium. Hence, XRP had a higher chance to fall to bearish pressure than recovering in bulls’ favor.

Community rallies as development activity keep the upside

In addition, some comments under Schwartz’s tweets revealed that a large part of the XRP army had wanted clarity on the matter before now. Surprisingly, many supported the CTO’s stance.

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However, on-chain data showed that Ripple was unperturbed by the outright rejection. This was because the development activity had revived from its downturn at the beginning of February. The development activity measures the devotion of a project to sustaining upgrades on its network.

As of this writing, the metric had surged to 5.5. This implies that Ripple developers were actively contributing at a maximal rate. 

But the weighted sentiment flatlined at -0.321. This metric takes into account the unique social volume. Since it was negative, then it meant that the vast majority of comments towards XRP were not cherry.