"Ripple (XRP) Handled a Big Internal Money Move Yesterday, May 1"

Internal Money Move

* As May 1 began, Ripple handled a big internal money move, part of their monthly XRP escrow unlock.

* A total of 500 million XRP (about $1.1 billion) was transferred, according to Whale Alert.

* That blockchain data showed the funds went from one of Ripple’s own wallets to another.

* This was no external crypto wallet, which is where the unlocked tokens usually went.

Escrow Protocol Continued in May Cycle

Escrow Protocol Continued in May Cycle

* On-chain records showed the funds came from Ripple’s own escrow accounts, part of their standard practice.

* Each month, on the first day, Ripple unlocks some of the tokens they’ve been holding in escrow.

* Afterward, they usually use some of that money to buy back more XRP and then lock those tokens back up.

* Early signs on May 1 showed them doing that part of the cycle as planned.

Circle Bid, RLUSD Stablecoin Context

* This transfer came around the time reports had Ripple putting an offer to buy Circle, known for the USDC stablecoin.

* As that report went, the first offer was for $4 billion to $5 billion, but Circle declined due to valuation concerns.

* Meanwhile, Ripple has already launched its own stablecoin, called RLUSD.

* That one has now reached a market cap over $300 million.

XRP Dips Then Recovers, Volume Low

* In crypto market action, XRP’s price stayed in a tight band even after the big internal token shift.

* The asset dipped to a low of $2.1936 on Monday.

* From there, XRP bounced back and hit as high as $2.25.

* Later in the day, XRP settled around $2.16, down 0.42% over the past 24 hours.

* Its market cap also saw a minor decrease, now valued at $128.96 billion.

* In other news, XRP’s trading activity has slowed down significantly.

* Within the 24-hour period, XRP experienced a substantial decline in trading volume by 35.50% to $2.26 billion.

* The ratio of volume to market cap now stands at a low 1.74%, indicating that not much trading is occurring relative to the size of XRP’s market cap.

Key Support and Retracement Levels Hit As XRP Price Drops Further

Chart analyst CasiTrades noted that XRP couldn’t stay above $2.25 and is making smaller price drops. From a technical perspective, this could lead to the price dropping to $2 or even $1.90.

That $1.90 level is key as it was a support zone during the prior rally and the 0.5 Fibonacci support level and 0.618 retracement level from that move.

That $1.90 level is key as it was a support zone during the prior rally and the 0.5 Fibonacci support level and 0.618 retracement level from that move.

Out of the top 10 cryptocurrencies, XRP is the fourth largest with 58.5 billion tokens out of a 100 billion max supply in circulation and a fully diluted valuation of $216.27 billion.