XRP Bulls vs Bears – Whales Decide the Outcome

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – XRP whales have been a decisive force behind the token’s price fluctuations. However, before discussing their recent stance, let’s see what’s happening on XRP charts. XRP/USD has been consolidating sideways for the previous three sessions and held above the significant $0.6 support. As a result, the Dec 21 session saw the coin at $0.61.

XRP Technicals See a Potential Break Ahead

Meanwhile, a detailed view of the XRP price action revealed that the token has been trading within a symmetrical triangle since its court-driven rally in mid-July. The triangle entails two converging trendlines with a similar slope. They connect the swing highs and lows, predicting a sharp move ahead, equal to the maximal triangle height, predicting an over 60% win or loss ahead.

But here’s the rub. The Symmetrical triangle does not indicate the vector direction. While the XRP bulls fight the bears, let’s see what the on-chain metrics have to say.

On-chain Metrics Say Bulls In Profit

Notably, XRP’s market capitalization stood at $32 billion on Dec 21, a whopping $22 billion less than the Realized market cap, suggesting the majority of XRP investors are in profit.

In detail, traditional market capitalization is the product of the current market price of a cryptocurrency and the total number of coins in circulation. Realized market cap, on the other hand, takes into account the price at which each unit of the cryptocurrency last moved. In other words, it’s the sum of the value of all coins at the price they were last traded, rather than the current market price.

Generally, the high number of addresses in profit shows confidence in the underlying asset. Thus, could be construed as a bullish factor. However, when enough addresses are in profit, they tend to secure that profit by exiting the market. If that’s XRP Bulls’ plan, XRP might not make it to the bullish target.

Meanwhile, large XRP holders, in other words, the whales might have the key to more precise predictions. In detail, the fluctuations of their ranks and holdings could give retail investors a better clue of what’s coming.

XRP Whales Hold the Answer

Large XRP whales, i.e., addresses holding over $1 million and $10 million in XRP have not added new members to their ranks, while sharks and little shrimp stuffed their purses. Notably, the whales did not capitulate either. Generally, the number of large XRP whales has been steadily high since late October, which confirms the investor confidence mentioned above.

Did the bulls get discouraged by the fact that Solana (SOL) flipped XRP as the fifth-highest cryptocurrency by market cap? Not really, as Fund inflows to XRP in the week ending Dec 17 took third place after Solana and Cardano. According to CoinShares’ latest weekly report, the token’s inflows stood at $2.7 million. Considering the outflows from Bitcoin and Ethereum, XRP’s inflows could be considered a bullish factor.

In conclusion, while XRP price technicals could not give a definitive answer, on-chain metrics point to a bullish continuation ahead. However, the altcoin does not exist independently from the rest of the market. Thus, potential investors should watch macroeconomic factors closely, as well as fluctuations in the Bitcoin market to make a well-balanced decision.