Ripple’s XRP token is going through a stagnation phase without giving any clear signs of where it is headed next. The cross-border remittances token has been contained in a narrow trading range since May 11.
This area is defined by the $0.19 support and the $0.206 resistance level.
XRP Consolidates Within Narrow Trading Range. (Source: TradingView)
Despite the low levels of volatility, on-chain metrics suggests that a significant price movement is underway.
Volatility Is Set to Strike Back
Ever since the peak of April 30 when XRP went up to $0.236, its on-chain volume appears to have leveled off, based on data from Santiment. Since then this gauge has been steadily declining even though the price of this altcoin remains consolidating.
The divergence between price and volume can be seen as a negative sign. It may indicate that momentum for a bearish impulse is building up slowly.
But before jumping into any side of the trend, one must wait for either support or resistance to break first.
XRP On-Chain Volume. (Source: Santiment)
Santiment’s token age consume chart reveals that a period of high volatility is coming soon. This fundamental indicator shows the ratio between the number of coins changing addresses at a given date and the time since they were last moved.
The movement of old coins does not necessarily mean that XRP will break out of the ongoing consolidation phase. However, there is a high probability that this will happen based on the price history of the past three months.
Following the 50% nosedive XRP took between March 12 and 13, for instance, more than 110 billion idled tokens were moved to different addresses. Subsequently, this cryptocurrency shot up over 40%. Then, on April 7, roughly 45 billion old tokens changed hands, leading to a 15% retracement.
A similar event took place twice between April 21 and May 1, which adds credence to the predictive power that this metric has over XRP’s wild price movements.
Now that more than 120 billion idled XRP tokens were moved to different addresses in the past few days and history could be about to repeat itself.
XRP Token Age Consumed. (Source: Santiment)
XRP Trades Within a No-Trade Zone
The area between the support and resistance levels previously mentioned is a reasonable no-trade zone since it is nearly impossible to estimate the direction of the next significant price movement. When considering the Fibonacci retracement indicator, however, the no-trade region is defined by the 61.8% and 78.6% Fib.
A daily candlestick close below or above this area will be critical to determine where the international settlements token is headed next.
On the downside, the next important support levels to watch out for after moving past $0.19 are represented by the 50% and 38.2% Fib. These support barriers sit at $0.17 and $0.16, respectively.
XRP On the Cusp of a Major Price Movement. (Source: TradingView)
Conversely, a bullish impulse that allows XRP to break above the $0.206 resistance may see it aim for late April’s high of $0.236 or the 127.2% Fib at $0.27.
With another Bitcoin halving written in the history books, the cryptocurrency market might be on the cusp of its next bull cycle. For this reason, it is important to remain cautious and wait for confirmation before entering any trade.
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