Ripple (XRP) price action is choppily trading just above the three-dollar mark, which acts as short-term support, while three twenty serves as short-term resistance.
XRP trades at $3.13 and is expected to retest the $3 support path.
Attempts to recover from the 20% loss since the token’s all-time high of 3.65$ have been hindered by increased selling pressure and waning bullish sentiment.
The all-time high from July 18 was partly driven by the bullish sentiment last week when Bitcoin (BTC) dipped below $115K, dragging nearly all crypto assets down with it.
A decline in bullish market sentiment was likely due to the upcoming release of significant U.S. macroeconomic data. The combination of potential negative news and profit-taking by bulls probably led to XRP selling off at the $2.95 support level.
A sell signal was confirmed by the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator when the blue line crossed below the red signal line. Such a signal is frequently used by investors to reduce their positions, particularly when the red histogram bars drop below zero. The next steps for XRP fundamentals are solely dependent on legislative and regulatory actions. A court decision or an ETF success could cause a significant price increase.
However, the bullish momentum from mid-July, which saw XRP and other cryptocurrencies surge, is likely to persist. If a major bull run occurs, pushing XRP past 4$ is highly possible.
Optimism surrounds efforts for regulatory clarity on XRP’s legal issues, along with the potential approval of an ETF that could attract institutional investors, making this bullish outlook plausible. However, XRP bulls remain cautious as resistance at $3.20 stays strong and downside risks increase.
Importantly, the overall market environment will be key. Both assets face headwinds from macroeconomic conditions and a risk-off attitude in equities, which could delay or lessen their gains. However, their ecosystems are compelling: XRP’s banking partnerships and Solana’s developer tools help the assets outperform in a more risk-on scenario.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) will decide on interest rates on Wednesday, which could like to influence the altcoin’s direction at least in the short term. Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech will give important clues about the central bank’s policy, even though most expect the FOMC meeting to keep rates steady between 4.25% and 4.50%.
Still, the tariffs President Donald Trump is expected to impose this Friday could also cause high volatility in the XRP market, possibly explaining the decline in broader cryptocurrency market interest. The FOMC meeting, Trump’s tariff deadline of August 1, and employment data all suggest a potentially volatile week for markets.
Meanwhile, traditional banking organizations strongly opposed Ripple’s application for a federal banking license in the United States, according to recent Bank Policy Institute (BPI) events.
The BPI, which represents 42 major US banks, objected to Ripple’s application for an OCC national trust bank license due to unclear regulations and a brief public review period. This situation highlights the growing divide between startups wanting to implement blockchain technology in regulated settings and established financial institutions.
Ripple applied to the OCC to establish a federally licensed business that could offer services including stablecoin issuance (through its RLUSD token), direct access to the US payment system via a Federal Reserve master account, and digital asset custody.