The XRP price dropped 2% in the past 24 hours to trade at $2.30 as of 4:18 a.m. EST

This comes as Circle, the issuer of USDC, shut down reports of informal acquisition talks with Coinbase or Ripple.

The price of XRP dropped by 2% in the past 24 hours to trade at $2.30 as of 4:18 a.m. EST on Friday, despite a 4% rise in trading volume to $2.03 billion.

This comes as Circle, the issuer of USDC, shut down reports of informal acquisition talks with Coinbase or Ripple.

“Circle is not for sale. Our long-term goals remain the same,” a company spokesperson told the media following reports that the stablecoin issuer was shutting down reports of informal acquisition talks with Coinbase or Ripple.

This follows a report by Bloomberg that Circle had been discussing a potential sale or SPAC merger for a $5 billion valuation.

According to the report, the firm had spoken with several parties about a potential sale but decided against it. It is now planning to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) later this year or early in 2026.

However, the company is said to be facing difficulties in raising sufficient funds through private markets to fuel new initiatives.

The report also mentions that although Circle reportedly held discussions with both Coinbase and Ripple, no serious talks took place.

Earlier this year, rumors emerged that Coinbase was in talks to acquire Circle. A source familiar with the matter told Benzinga that Coinbase had approached Circle regarding a potential acquisition.

However, the company spokesperson later clarified that there were no pending offers or imminent plans for an acquisition.

Meanwhile, the price of XRP is showing signs of preparing for a bullish leg upward.

On the daily chart, XRP appears to be consolidating after breaking out of a falling wedge pattern—a classic bearish reversal formation—suggesting a bullish continuation.

This consolidation is occurring around the $2.30–$2.50 region, which closely aligns with the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement level at $2.2633, where XRP is finding support, according to the data from GeckoTerminal.

At the same time, the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA), currently at $2.2379, is trending upward and lies just below the current price of XRP, indicating a short-term bullish bias.

The 200-day SMA, at $2.2535, has been acting as a dynamic support level, and XRP’s holding above both of these key SMAs strengthens the case for bullish continuation.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is hovering around 48.38, which is in neutral territory. This indicates that the Ripple token is neither overbought nor oversold at the moment, leaving room for a potential upward move.

If the bulls manage to push the price up from this consolidation, they could encounter resistance at the 0 Fib level, currently at $2.98. A stronger resistance level is located at the 0.618 Fib, extending at $3.35, which is also the projected target from the wedge breakout.

On the flip side, if the bears take charge of the price at this level, and with the RSI now trading downwards, the price of XRP could undergo a correction. In this scenario, the 0.5 Fib level ($1.92) and the 0.618 Fib level ($1.59) act as the immediate support levels.