Ripple Market Update: XRP/USD is back inside the previous range, bulls defend $0.2000

Ripple (XRP) is changing hands at $0.2030. The coin has partially recovered from Tuesday’s major sell-off to $0.1970; however, the further upside seems to be limited. Ripple retreated to the fourth place in the global cryptocurrency market rating and gave way to Tether (USDT). Now the total value of all digital assets in circulation is registered at $8.9 billion, while an average daily trading volume is $1.7 billion. XRP/USD has lost 3.7% on a day-to-day basis and stayed unchanged since the beginning of the day.

XRP/USD: Technical picture

On a daily chart, XRP/USD is well-supported by a combination of SMA50 and the middle line of the Bollinger Band. It is closely followed by the psychological barrier of $0.2000 and Monday’s low of $0.1970. This area of support lines may slow down the bearish momentum and attract new short-term buyers, though if it is broken, the sell-off may continue towards daily SMA100 at $0.1950 and the lower line of the daily Bollinger Band at $0.1910.

XRP/USD 1-hour chart

Western Union may takeover Ripple’s partner

Western Union, the largest player in the international remittance market, is considering the acquisition of one of its competitors, MoneyGram International, which is also a partner of a fintech startup Ripple. 

MoneyGram received the acquisition offer, but has not yet made a decision, Bloomberg reports.  Western Union can also opt-out of the deal, as no decision has been made yet. 

The business of money-transfer services has been in decline as more people use online payments. Moreover, fintech startups have entered the industry with new offers, creating a strong new competition to established market players. It leads to market consolidation and creates conditions for merges and acquisitions.

MoneyGram was forced to shut operations around the globe during coronavirus pandemic as governments imposed shelter-in-place orders.  

Ripple is one of MoneyGram shareholders, it owns 9.95% of the company. The company uses Ripple's On-Demand Liquidity solution for crossborder payments and receives XRP tokens as a reward.

Earlier, Western Union tested the possibility of making payments based on Ripple technology. Also, the payment giant said it was ready to work with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as soon as blockchain and digital currencies became widespread.