NOIDA (CoinChapter.com) — Ripple (XRP) price traded near $2.26 on April 23, after logging a modest 3.5% spike to reach a daily high near $2.3, yet continued to underperform its peers amid a broader crypto market rebound. Bitcoin surged past $94,000, adding over 10% in two days, while Ethereum rallied above $1,800.
Other major altcoins, including Solana and Avalanche, posted double-digit gains, riding on renewed institutional inflows and risk-on sentiment. In stark contrast, XRP’s price remains pinned below key resistance levels, weighed down by lingering technical hesitation and a fresh ecosystem-specific concern.
The overall market recovery has been swift and decisive. Investor appetite returned following a softening U.S. dollar, easing bond yields, and growing optimism over regulatory clarity in the U.S. and Europe. Whale accumulation trends and stablecoin inflows indicate sustained confidence, particularly in Bitcoin and select altcoins.
XRP, however, finds itself at a crossroads. While broader sentiment has improved, the token’s momentum was temporarily derailed by a critical security breach discovered on April 21, targeting its core JavaScript library, ‘xrpl.js.’
Although Ripple developers swiftly contained the exploit, the incident cast doubt on the resilience of XRP Ledger’s developer infrastructure. Though there was no loss of funds, the damage appears to be reputational for now. However, in a market that thrives on perception and trust, that can be enough to delay breakout momentum.
XRP Ledger’s ‘xrpl.js’ Library Breached in Targeted Supply Chain Attack
A sophisticated supply chain attack on April 21, 2025, compromised the XRP Ledger’s official JavaScript library, ‘xrpl.js,’ exposing the ecosystem to a severe security threat.
The breach affected versions 4.2.1 through 4.2.4 and 2.14.2 of the software development kit (SDK) maintained by the XRP Ledger Foundation and sees over 140,000 weekly downloads. The attacker inserted a backdoor capable of stealing private keys—jeopardizing funds in wallets and decentralized applications dependent on the compromised packages.
Cybersecurity firm Aikido Security first detected the breach at 8:53 PM UTC. Investigations revealed that the attacker gained access through a compromised Node Package Manager (NPM) account linked to Mukul Jangid, reportedly associated with Ripple. The attacker embedded malicious code into the ‘index.ts’ source file and its compiled JavaScript outputs, redirecting private key data to the external domain ‘0x9c.xyz.’
The backdoor directly threatened the integrity of the XRP Ledger’s DeFi ecosystem, which holds an estimated $80 million in wallets.
Key services such as Xaman Wallet, XRPScan, and First Ledger avoided the fallout by building on unaffected versions of the library. The XRP Ledger Foundation responded within hours, releasing a secure update, ‘xrpl.js’ version 4.2.5, and promptly deprecated the compromised packages. Importantly, the core XRP Ledger blockchain and its GitHub repositories remained untouched, confirming that the underlying network itself was never breached.
This incident echoes similar supply chain attacks that previously targeted Ethereum and Solana dependencies, highlighting persistent vulnerabilities in open-source infrastructures. Developers are now advised to upgrade to version 4.2.5 or revert to 2.14.3, rotate any exposed keys, and audit their project dependencies to safeguard against future breaches.
Backdoor Breach Adds Bearish Pressure
The recent security breach involving the XRP Ledger’s ‘xrpl.js’ library coincides with a technically sensitive moment for XRP price action. XRP price showed signs of confirming a breakout from a falling wedge pattern. However, the emergence of a supply chain attack, though swiftly mitigated, could inject short-term uncertainty into market sentiment.
The daily chart structure continues to respect the falling wedge boundaries, with price compressing toward the pattern’s apex. Despite the bullish nature of this setup, XRP remains capped by descending trendline resistance, currently hovering near the $2.50 zone. A decisive close above this level would confirm the breakout, potentially validating the projected technical target closer to late 2024 highs.
Immediate resistance rests near $2.50. Flipping the immediate resistance would target the resistance near $2.86. Beyond that, the broader market expects a retest of the multi-month high around $3.84, which aligns with the wedge’s projected breakout target and the 1.0 Fibonacci extension. However, sellers continue to defend the $2.50 region, evident from wicks rejecting higher intraday moves.
On the downside, the 200-day EMA (green) acts as support near $2. Dropping to this level or failing to hold it would risk invalidating the bullish wedge and reintroducing the possibility of deeper corrections toward the $1.65 range. The RSI is inching higher, currently at 58, but remains below overbought territory, suggesting room for a move higher if volume confirms.
Volume remains subdued, but the recent green daily candle suggests re-entry interest around the wedge’s lower boundary. Still, traders may hold back until the market fully digests the fallout from the Ripple library compromise. The breach of an official SDK—especially one exposing wallet keys—could slow momentum, even without asset losses.
