XRP Price Spikes 7% as Ripple and the SEC Agree to a $50 Million Settlement

This article explores the price action of XRP following the news of Ripple and the SEC reaching a settlement agreement of $50 million.

XRP price surged 7.07% in the past 24 hours to $2.34 by 07:15 ET (11:15 GMT), continuing its strong run. The token rose 6.08% over the last week.

This spike follows news of Ripple and the SEC agreeing to a $50 million settlement, which will see the case dismissed. The development brought immediate buying pressure on XRP, with trading volume for the token also surging 13.89% to approximately $5 billion in the last 24 hours.

The high trading volume at these levels suggests strong interest from investors, who may be anticipating further short-term gains for the token.

At these levels, XRP’s total market capitalization is $137.1 billion, making it one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap.

Settling major cases like this one can bring stability to the market and boost investor confidence in the respective tokens. However, if the case had dragged on for an extended period, it could have brought uncertainty to the market and limited XRP’s gains.

Lawyers for Ripple and the SEC had filed a joint stipulation for dismissal of all claims with prejudice in the case on Thursday.

The agreed-upon $50 million settlement marks a significant reduction from the initial $2 billion fine that the SEC was seeking when it filed suit against Ripple in December 2020.

The SEC later lowered its request to $125 million before the final settlement was reached.

The announcement of the settlement brought an immediate price reaction in XRP.

Before the court filing, XRP was trading at around $2.12. But the news brought a bullish engulfing candle on the charts, pushing the price close to $2.40.

This settlement also marks the conclusion of a lengthy legal battle that has hung over Ripple and affected XRP price action for years.

The resolution of this uncertainty appears to have unleashed the buying pressure that was previously being held back.

Multiples technical indicators point higher for XRP

Technical analysis of XRP shows multiple bullish signals. The cryptocurrency has printed seven consecutive green candlesticks on the 4-hour chart, helping it break out of a descending channel formation.

The setup resembles a bull flag pattern that has now resolved to the upside. The Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) reading has climbed to 0.21, indicating rising buying pressure around XRP.

On the daily chart, XRP has broken above the upper trendline of a falling parallel channel, with the previous resistance at $2.28 now potentially serving as support.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) has turned positive, suggesting building bullish momentum. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has reached 62.03, further reinforcing the positive outlook without yet reaching overbought territory.

If the current trend continues, XRP could target the resistance level at $2.72. A breakthrough at this point might open the path to a new yearly high of $3.40.

However, profit-taking could lead to a price decline below $2.28, with a possible slide toward $1.60 near the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement level.

On-chain metrics suggest XRP may not yet have reached its peak for this market cycle, despite the recent price increase.

Data from Glassnode shows that the realized price for XRP is $1.05, which is substantially lower than the current market price. This gap suggests potential for continued short-term gains in the form of price convergence.

The Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) ratio, which measures unrealized profits and losses in the market, currently stands at 2.22 for XRP.

Historically, XRP reaches local or market tops when this ratio falls between 2.59 and 4.26. With the current MVRV ratio still below these thresholds, XRP appears to have room for further price appreciation before entering overvalued territory. This metric suggests the token could potentially rise above $3 before this market cycle peaks.

In the last 24 hours, Virtuals Protocol and Pepe were among the top gainers, while Four, PAX Gold, and Tether Gold were among the top losers.