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XRP has been range-bound in recent days, consolidating after successfully holding strong above the critical $2.10 support level. As one of the standout performers this cycle, XRP experienced a massive surge following the US election, capturing investor attention. However, recent price action has introduced uncertainty, leaving some investors concerned about the possibility of further downside.

Despite these fears, on-chain data suggests a different narrative. Insights from Santiment reveal that whales have accumulated another 40 million XRP in the past 24 hours. This significant accumulation indicates that Smart Money may be positioning itself for an upcoming rally. Historically, such whale activity has preceded major price movements, providing a bullish signal for long-term holders.

XRP’s ability to maintain the $2.10 support level amid market fluctuations demonstrates resilience, but the next decisive move will depend on whether bulls can capitalize on this accumulation phase. If buying momentum continues and XRP breaks out of its current range, a push toward new highs could follow.

XRP Continues To Signal Strength

XRP continues to display resilience, trading above key support levels and attracting investors who recognize its long-term potential. Despite a significant 30% retrace from recent highs, XRP has held its ground, maintaining critical support zones that bolster a bullish outlook. This stability is driving confidence among market participants, with many seeing the altcoin as a top contender for future growth.

Top analyst Ali Martinez recently highlighted compelling data from Santiment, showing that whales added another 40 million XRP to their holdings in the last 24 hours. This follows a broader trend of consistent whale accumulation, a phenomenon often regarded as an indicator of smart money positioning for a significant market move. Such activity suggests that institutional and high-net-worth investors expect XRP to outperform in the coming months.

The sustained interest in XRP stems from its ability to remain strong despite recent corrections and broader market uncertainty. Holding above key support levels not only reflects technical strength but also underscores investor confidence in its potential for a significant rally.

As whale accumulation continues and sentiment shifts, XRP is well-positioned to capitalize on positive momentum. A breakout above resistance levels could mark the beginning of a powerful rally, reinforcing its leadership among altcoins in the current cycle.

Technical Analysis: Key Levels To Watch

XRP is currently trading at $2.22 after successfully testing the 4-hour moving average (MA) and exponential moving average (EMA) around $1.96 a few days ago. This bounce off critical support levels highlights XRP’s short-term strength, reinforcing its bullish momentum. The MA and EMA are widely regarded as key indicators for assessing the health of an asset, and XRP’s ability to hold above them signals strong demand at lower levels.

Maintaining support above $2.13 in the coming days is essential to sustain this momentum. If XRP continues to trade above this level, it would solidify investor confidence and pave the way for a potential test of the $2.40 resistance mark. Breaking above $2.40 would likely trigger additional buying interest, potentially driving XRP toward new highs as the broader market sentiment improves.

On the flip side, losing the $2.13 support could introduce some short-term weakness, leading to a retest of lower levels near the MA and EMA. However, as long as XRP maintains its overall structure above these moving averages, the bullish narrative remains intact, and the altcoin could continue to attract smart money positioning for the next rally.

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView

The price of Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is approaching the $100,000 level once again on Christmas Eve.

The pioneer cryptocurrency is currently changing hands at $98,703, according to data provided by CoinGecko.

The cryptocurrency has surged by nearly 6% in mere hours, with some pundits jokingly describing this overperformance as a "Christmas miracle."

Following the sudden spike, Bitcoin bears might not be in the festive spirit. According to data provided by CoinGlass, roughly $61 million worth of Bitcoin shorts ended up being liquidated over the past four hours.

The S&P 500 index has also closed 1% higher while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index, which recently added business intelligence MicroStrategy, is up by 1.3%.

The recent Bitcoin purchase is a welcome development for Bitcoin bulls had been struggling to regain ground following the Fed's hawkish rhetoric. Major risk assets, including prominent cryptocurrencies, tumbled last week after it became clear that the Fed would likely implement fewer rate cuts in 2025.

However, even following the most recent price surge, the Bitcoin price is still down roughly 9% from its record high of $108,135 on Dec. 17.

Last year, Bitcoin was trading at the $43,000 level on Christmas Eve. In 2022, the flagship cryptocurrency was changing hands at roughly $16,000 after enduring a massive crash that occurred following the FTX implosion.

So far, the cryptocurrency has surged by nearly 140% in 2024, and some pundits of the likes of SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scramucci believe that the flagship coin might double in price in 2025.

The cryptocurrency is up by a mere 1% this week. Bitcoin bulls still have a week left to make sure that this month remains in the green.

The Shiba Inu burn rate has displayed a massive decline, according to the data recently shared by the Shibburn blockchain tracker. In the meantime, the SHIB price has shown a movement in a totally different direction.

SHIB burns vs SHIB price

While the burns have collapsed by more than 64%, the Shibburn website says, the SHIB community has succeeded in burning 3,166,691 SHIB meme coins over the last 24 hours.

Six burn transactions over the last day have done the job with the largest ones moving 1,040,537, and 1,008,249 Shiba Inu meme coins.

On Monday, the SHIB army burned slightly more, cumulatively transferring approximately 10,000,000 SHIB to unspendable wallets.

Meanwhile, the burn rate this time is not correlated with the SHIB price. Over the last day, the second most popular meme-themed cryptocurrency Shiba Inu has seen a rise of more than 10%, rising from $0.00002117 to the $0.00002336 price level.

Shibarium approaches big new milestone

The Shibariumscan explorer reveals that the layer-2 blockchain is eyeing a big new milestone. The overall transaction count currently sits at 698,969,876, quickly moving towards the 700 million level.

The daily number of transactions on Shibarium now totals 4.71 million. That is a notable growth since December 12, when this metric comprised 4.58 million transfers. The recently added “latest transaction” section shows 175,088 new transfers. The number of wallets linked to the network now equates to 2,021,457.

A crypto analyst has set an ambitious target between $7 and $13 for the XRP price, basing his predictions on the Elliott Wave theory and Fibonacci levels. According to the analyst’s price chart, Wave 2 and 5 could push XRP to these key targets, marking new all-time highs for the cryptocurrency.

XRP Price Roadmap To New ATHs

The XRP price has been on a rather lengthy consolidation trend, halting its previous price momentum after hitting the $2.5 mark. Despite facing bearish trends and a drop to $2.2, a crypto analyst on TradingView, ‘Zerpcrypto,’ has shared a bullish forecast for the popular altcoin.

According to the analyst, XRP could experience a significant price increase between $7.4 to $13.5. The analyst based his bullish projections on XRP’s recent price action and the Elliott Wave theory, a technical analysis tool that identifies predictable patterns in crypto prices and helps forecast market trends.

Zerpcrypto shared a 2-year XRP price chart from 2014 to the present; labeling wave counts from one to five for the larger cycles and sub-waves within these cycles. The analyst’s chart indicates that XRP is currently in the middle of Wave 3, signaling a potential upward move.

With Wave 2 already complete, Zerpcrypto anticipates that Wave 3 could trigger a strong price rally, potentially propelling XRP to $7.4. After reaching the Wave 3 target, a minor pullback is expected in Wave 4, allowing the market to consolidate before XRP’s final big push upward into Wave 5. In this last wave, XRP could rise to $13.5 and potentially even surge as high as $27.4.

In addition to the Elliott Wave theory, Zerpcrypto‘s predictions are grounded in Fibonacci levels. The projected $7.4 and $13.5 XRP price targets align with the 4.236 and 8.618 Fibonacci extension levels respectively, reinforcing the analyst’s bullish outlook.

Zerpcrypto has also spotlighted a positive Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) for XRP, further strengthening his confidence in the cryptocurrency’s projected $7.4 to $13.5 price target.

Crypto Whales Buy 40 Million XRP

Despite XRP’s price drop to $2.25, a 13% decline over the past week, whales continue accumulating large amounts of tokens, viewing the price dips as a potential buying opportunity. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez revealed in a recent X (former Twitter) post that whales have bought another 40 million XRP in the last 24 hours.

A crypto community member has speculated that this large-scale purchase could signal that whales may be positioning themselves for significant change in XRP. Typically, a surge in whale buying activity often suggests increased confidence in the bullish outlook of a cryptocurrency.

With XRP’s price surging over 4X from its previous low of $0.5 to surpass $2.2 in just two months, analysts are forecasting continued gains as the bull market gains momentum.

It is Christmas Eve, and on the cryptocurrency market, the prices of most of our beloved digital assets are turning holiday green. Currently, the third largest cryptocurrency, XRP, is no exception, as its price jumped over 5.1% from the day's low to its recent high of $2.325.

The past few days have been tough not only for XRP but for the cryptocurrency market in general, as about $416 billion of its market cap, or 11.53% of the total, was wiped out in the past week alone in a prolonged series of declines.

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However, today's trading session proved the bears wrong, as, first, Bitcoin broke its downtrend, and then all alternative cryptocurrencies experienced a wave of price appreciation. Now that we have the pump, the question remains: will the renewed optimism last long enough for XRP to recover to at least pre-dump levels?CoinMarketCap">

From one point of view, it is Christmas tomorrow, and traditionally, amid a festive mood, the cryptocurrency market sees a corresponding reaction.

On the other hand, we are at that time of the market when all traders and fund managers have to balance their books, close deals, report profits and losses, say goodbye and enjoy their year-end holidays.

Will XRP pump to yearly highs in 2024?

If in previous cycles this pattern - common on traditional financial markets - did not affect crypto much; this time, with the arrival of the likes of BlackRock, Fidelity and other traditional financial institutions, the same tendencies may apply to digital assets that trade without days off.

XRP set its local high at $2.90, its all-time high is above $3.3 and right now, the token is trading at $2.30. It is still at least 26% to the recent high, which may be too much for the token to go in these two days. However, nothing is set in stone and may not occur right from the start, but XRP may end the year on a positive note.

Bitcoin (BTC) passed $98,000 after the Dec. 24 Wall Street open as “large spot buyers” lifted deflated BTC price action.