XRP army looks to pump price to $1.00

Ripple pumped by a group likely borrowing tactics from WallStreetBets

Ripple (XRP) price has exploded nearly 115% in three days to see bulls eye a breakout above critical resistance around $0.60.

At press time, XRP/USD is trading around $0.64, a rebound that sees Ripple’s price trade at the levels last seen when the US SEC had filed a lawsuit against the company and its top executives.

XRP first pumped 56% on Saturday to hit prices above $0.50 as what appeared to have been a coordinated buying scheme took shape.

Aggressive selling saw XRP print a daily close of $0.44. However, the bulls hit back with a 12% surge on 31 January to reclaim the $0.50 level. In the past 24 hours, XRP has rallied nearly 47%, to break above resistance at $0.60.

What could drive XRP to $1.00?

A group on Telegram named Buy & Hold XRP is likely behind the pump, and if so, the XRP price could surge further. This XRP army of retail traders has likely taken a hint or two from WallStreetBets.

The massive upside could well take XRP/USD past the $0.75 barrier if retail buyers replicate what happened last week with Dogecoin (DOGE). The cryptocurrency pumped over 1000% in 24 hours after a WallStreetBets-styled pump, before cooling off. The meme coin is likely not done yet as it has bounced 45% in the past 24 hours to trade around $0.04.

XRP/USD technical outlook

XRP is trading higher after breaking above a descending trendline on the daily chart. A potential technical breakout to $1.00 will strengthen if bulls breach resistance at $0.66 as shown on the chart below.

XRP/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

The moving average curves, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) all suggest the short term picture is positive.

The upside advantage could then help cushion against potential profit booking, likely if XRP/USD crosses the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement level at $0.66. Above this level, bulls have legitimate targets at $0.75 and then $1.00.

However, the RSI is in the overbought territory and an extended run is bound to give sellers a chance. Other market factors could also impact price action, so traders might have to watch out for XRP related news or the broader market sentiment.

A correction in the short term could be as sharp as the surge seen over the past three days.  In this case, bears will seek to push prices towards the 0.618 Fibonacci level ($0.56) and then the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement level ($0.48).

Any more losses below the above Fib levels could see bears target the 50-SMA ($0.33) and 200-SMA ($0.31).