On March 9th, XRP extended its gains, rising by 1.5% to $0.40 despite a general downturn in the cryptocurrency market. This marks the fourth day of the XRP/USD pair’s winning streak, with XRP’s market capitalization increasing by over 10% during the past four days. In contrast, the overall cryptocurrency market cap has dropped by around 5% in the same period, with Bitcoin and Ethereum losing 4.5% and 4%, respectively.
Investors are hopeful that Ripple will win its ongoing courtroom battle against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with XRP’s gains likely reflecting this sentiment. On March 6th, a U.S. District Judge approved and denied motions filed by Ripple and the SEC to exclude the comments of expert witnesses from the upcoming summary judgment. The removal of the SEC’s primary witness, Patrick Doody, led XRP market participants to believe that Ripple may end up winning the lawsuit.
From a technical perspective, XRP’s price may decline in the coming weeks as it retests a multi-month descending trendline as resistance. This trendline has acted as a capitulation point for traders since April 2021, which increases the likelihood of a pullback that could push XRP towards $0.30, a more recent support level down 20% from current price levels. However, a breakout above the trendline could result in a 35% price rally for XRP towards its 200-3D exponential moving average (200-3D EMA) near $0.50 by April 2023.
