It has been an interesting week for XRP, with the Ripple-associated token seeing some unique turbulence that allowed it to rally independent of the aggregated crypto market late-last week before once again reestablishing a close correlation to Bitcoin.
This price action has come as the cryptocurrency hovers around a key support level that has been established around its BTC trading pair.
The potential strength of this support has led analysts to note that it is a possibility that the crypto pushes higher in the near-term.
XRP Inches Higher; Battles with Tether (USDT) for No. 3 Market Cap Spot
At the time of writing, XRP is trading up just under 1% at its current price of $0.18, which marks a notable climb from recent lows of $0.16 that were set in tandem with Bitcoin’s decline to $5,800.
XRP’s current USD price level has been where it has found some resistance throughout the past couple of weeks, with each attempt to surmount this level being futile.
In the near-term, it is important to note that Bitcoin is likely to continue guiding other altcoins, and whether or not it is able to surmount the resistance at $7,000 will be telling as to whether the aggregated crypto market will soon be able to push higher.
One interesting trend to consider in the near-term is the fact that XRP is currently at risk of losing its position as the third largest crypto by market capitalization to Tether (USDT).
According to data from Messari, XRP’s liquid market cap is already lower than that of USDT, trailing it by roughly $800 million.
This data conflicts slightly, however, with data from CoinMarketCap – which shows that the embattled token still has a lead over USDT.
This Support Level Could Bolster the Crypto’s BTC Trading Pair
One factor that could significant bolster the crypto in the near-term is the fact that it may soon flip a previous BTC resistance level into support.
A popular crypto trader on Twitter spoke about this possibility in a recent tweet, explaining that a successful defense of the 2600 sat level could lead XRP up to 3100 sats – a notable climb from its current price of 2630 sats.
“Would be interesting to see whether XRP can flip this level back for support. Might support further continuation towards 3100 satoshis.”
Image Courtesy of Crypto Michaël
If bulls do defend this level and push the cryptocurrency higher, it is probable that it will maintain its market cap lead over USDT and see some near-term upside.
Featured image from Shutterstock.