As XRP attempts to climb to higher levels, an analyst affirmed that the altcoin is “doing what it needs to do” to continue its bullish rally, highlighting multiple key structures in key timeframes.

XRP Enters Inflection Point

After retesting the $1.90 area on Friday morning, XRP saw a 4.6% intraday bounce toward the mid-zone of its local range. Over the past five days, the cryptocurrency has been hovering in the $1.85-$2.00 price range, failing to hold the upper zone of this range.

Market watcher ChartNerd pointed out a key reversal pattern that could signal a massive price expansion may be around the corner, noting that the altcoin is at a “critical inflection point” as it retests a macro support zone.

He explained that a running flat ABC correction formation is “a sophisticated structure where the failure of the ‘C’ wave to breach previous lows signals underlying bullish strength.”

XRP has been mirroring the same structure over the past 400 days, which would point “toward a structural breakout, marking the transition from a yearly long base into a new primary uptrend” if it resolves.

As the chart shows, “the wave counts repeating toward the structure are evident in XRP’s price action,” and as long as the macro support holds, around the $1.80 area, the C wave “could be working in the bulls’ defense.”

We could be just building a base above $1.80, marking the C wave in this running flat correction before the major breakout.

ChartNerd added that there could be a scenario in which XRP deviates below its major support before a V-shape recovery. However, he warned that losing this area would not be healthy, detailing that the only way to invalidate the pattern would be for the price to close below the structure’s support, retest it as resistance, and drop to lower levels.

XRP’s Price Defends Macro Support

The analyst emphasized the importance of the $1.80 level, noting that XRP has been defending this territory for over a year and could lead to a new all-time high (ATH) rally.

“This is a macro accumulation zone, and we evidently also have two major levels of descending resistance for XRP,” he detailed, highlighting that when the first multi-month descending resistance broke, the altcoin rallied to a new all-time high.

It’s pretty simple: we have descending resistance on our heads at the moment, and we once had a point of contact on this resistance at the $2.40 high (…) So, at this moment in time, the simplicity tells us: break the descending resistance, and this is where XRP really starts gearing up for further expansion.

Based on this, ChartNerd asserted that if the altcoin defends the $1.80 macro support, then a similar rally is likely. Similarly, he pointed to a bullish reversal structure building below the key $2.70 resistance on XRP’s chart.

Per the post, the cryptocurrency formed a three-month falling wedge pattern that was broken out of during the early January rally. Now, the price is retesting the pattern’s breakout level as support and could be preparing to climb toward the level it started forming.

“So XRP just needs to defend the guard at $1.80, and this is where we could be looking for that sort of major expansion and looking to press back up to the target of $2.70,” before potentially challenging its pre-Q4 range, he concluded.

The XRP market recorded a net negative performance in the past week, resulting in a minor 1% price decline. A very volatile market movement saw the altcoin trade as high as $2.17 before returning below the $2.10 resistance. As XRP investors eagerly await the next market move, recent on-chain data shows evidence of another impending price breakout.

XRP Negative Funding Rates Fuel Positive Market Bias

In exchange activity, funding rates refer to periodic payment mechanisms used in perpetual futures markets to keep the futures price aligned with the spot price. A positive funding rate suggests that long positions are overcrowded, which sees these long traders pay premiums to short traders to maintain their existing positions, thereby incentivizing and eventually pulling the futures price back toward the spot market.

According to market analyst PelinayPA, whenever the XRP funding rates have turned positive, there is usually an ensuing price consolidation or sharp correction. Such price movement can be attributed to the rising cost of maintaining these long positions and also the strong potential of a long squeeze, eventually causing a fall in market demand. 

On the other hand, sudden negative spikes in funding fates, especially when accompanied by a corresponding fall in funding rate, SMAs have resulted in the historical formation of a price bottom. Despite the pessimistic sentiment associated with negative funding rates, there is always a subsequent short-term price rebound. 

PelinayPA explains the XRP market sits in the latter situation as the funding rate is presently around -0.00323, while both SMA50 and SMA30 are heading downwards. Clearly, there is little optimism as short positions account for most of the existing leverage in the market. However, based on historical data, the chances of a price pullback or sustained selling pressure are presently low. 

Rather, the current funding data suggest the market is gathering momentum for a potential positive price breakout after a period of consolidation. However, PelinayPA warns that this signal does not indicate a major price rally, but only a stronger potential for an upward price move.

XRP Price Overview

At the time of writing, XRP trades at $2.06, reflecting losses of 0.24% and 0.99% in the past one and seven days, respectively. However, the monthly chart reports an impressive price gain of 13.45%, indicating that a significant portion of new market entrants are sitting in profits.  Despite these gains, XRP remains significantly below the cycle’s all-time high at $3.5. To decisively establish any form of bullish intent, XRP bulls must reclaim the immediate resistance at $2.10 before setting sights on future targets, including $2.60 and $3.00.