XRP Bears Defeated at $1.05: Failed Breakdown or Short-Term Pause?

XRP bears pushed prices below February lows but still couldn’t test key weekly support. Does this represent a temporary defeat or a failed breakdown?

Since the start of the week, XRP is up nearly 2%. From its low near $1.05, the prominent altcoin has gained 11%. With prices beginning to show stability around the current price, the failure from bears to push the asset to the nearby key support zone is starting to make the rounds.

Prominent market watcher Duke discussed this in his recent TradingView analysis. His commentary highlighted the stop just below the February lows without further downside despite market weakness and what it could mean for the XRP price.

Failed Breakdown or a Pause?

He noted that XRP broke below $1.117 last week, a bottom that has existed since the February 6 market crash. It dipped over 13% to an intra-week low of $1.05, but recovered towards the end of the week to close at $1.15.

The late recovery left a wick on last week’s large red candlestick, which, according to Duke, remains unfilled. As such, he raised the question of whether the dip was a potential price breakdown that did not happen or the market is simply postponing the inevitable.

The analyst further highlighted that the rejection means that there is a pool of liquidity below the lows. XRP bulls view it as a key price level and are defending it massively.

It could also be where most stop losses and liquidation trigger levels are for large amounts of futures positions or an area of large buy orders for spot traders. Either way, he feels that the liquidity around that area is significant.

As such, Duke claimed that until XRP fills the wick or subsequent price development invalidates lower prices, bears will continue to target grabbing the liquidity around the $1.05 price level.

Pressure Mounts on XRP Price

While XRP has recovered slightly from recent lows, it still faces downward pressure above. Duke noted that one of the coin’s problems is the persistent lower high formation. Each price recovery has faced a rejection at levels lower than the previous peak, confirming a bearish continuation.

The recent lower high was at $1.607 in mid-March, where a recovery attempt at the time proved to be a relief bounce. The analyst highlighted that this was a clear sign of seller dominance, as they usually step in and drive prices lower even before it gets to the previous high.

Another major pressure comes from the 21-week exponential moving average (EMA) above. XRP continues to trend below this key trend indicator, with a recovery attempt on May 14 stalling near it. The weekly EMA also faces downward, reinforcing the bearish bias.

Next Support Level to Watch

Notably, XRP remains above the major weekly support near $0.94, a swing high seen in June 2023. Holding this level despite the recent dip is part of the reason why the analyst believes there is strong liquidity around the recent low.

However, should bears continue to dominate proceedings and XRP fill the wick from last week, the next target is this major support at $0.94. From the current price of $1.17, this represents an almost 20% correction. Notably, this falls short of a projected corrective target in a parallel analysis from CasiTrades, which sees the coin bottoming at $0.87.