- XRP price has remained in a box in the past four months.
- Ripple ETF inflows have jumped to the highest level this year.
- In contrast, Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF inflows have dwindled.
XRP price remained on edge today, May 23rd, mirroring the broader crypto industry’s performance. Ripple token dropped to $1.3365 today, its lowest level since April 13. It has dropped by 15% from its year-to-date high despite ongoing smart-money accumulation.
XRP Price Drops Despite Smart Money Accumulation
There are signs that the XRP token is in an accumulation phase that has lasted more than four months. The best example of this is the ongoing XRP ETF inflows, which have continued this month.
These funds have added assets in the last seven consecutive days, bringing the monthly increase to over $114 million. This makes it the best month since December last year, when they added over $499 million in assets.
In total, these funds have had net inflows of $1.41 billion since their inception, bringing the total net assets to $1.13 billion. Bitwise, Canary, Franklin, and 21Shares are the leading XRP ETFs by assets.
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In contrast, spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have faded. After adding $1.6 billion in assets in the first six days, these funds have now had substantial outflows in the past few weeks. Their net outflows stand at over $1 billion this month, ending a two-month winning streak.
Spot Solana ETF inflows have totaled over $112 million, while those tracking Ethereum have shed nearly $300 million in assets. Dogecoin and Avalanche have had no major inflows.
Therefore, the divergence between spot XRP and Bitcoin inflows suggests that smart money investors expect Bitcoin to rebound in the coming weeks or months.
Still, fundamentally, XRP is sending mixed signals. While the XRP Ledger network is thriving in terms of the Real-World Asset (RWA) industry, its on-chain metrics have waned. Data shows that the number of transfers and XRP holders has remained under pressure in the past few months.
Ripple Price Prediction: Technical Analysis
The daily chart shows that the XRP price has remained in a narrow range in the past four months. During this period, it has underperformed some of the most popular tokens in the industry, such as HYPE and Venice Token.
The coin has formed a horizontal channel with lower and upper levels at $1.3080 and $1.5420. The Average True Range (ATR) has been subdued, a sign that volatility has continued to dwindle.
XRP remains slightly below the 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA). Also, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has continued falling.
On the positive side, the ongoing smart-money buying is a sign that the coin has entered the accumulation phase of the Wyckoff Theory. This phase is then followed by markup, where an asset often goes parabolic.
The bullish XRP price forecast will be invalidated if XRP drops below the crucial support level of $1.30. Such a move will mean that bears have prevailed, pushing it lower.
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