Ripple processes payments worth $30 billion but XRP price eyes a 13% crash

Ripple released its Q4 report for 2022, which is part of its transparency efforts and has been ongoing for a few years now. The document contains a plethora of information focusing on the partnerships, sales, and major developments that it underwent in the months before. 

Despite the positive tone of the quarterly report, the XRP price action points to a downward correction.

Ripple dominates as a payments-faced project

Ripple’s Q4 2022 report noted that its payments arm RippleNet processed $30 billion in payments and 20 million in transactions since its inception, out of which, 60% were On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) originations. 

ODL is a service that Ripple offers. It eliminates the need for pre-funded accounts for cross-border transfers. Nostro-Vostro accounts in traditional finance have massive funds locked on both ends, but with ODL, these transfers use the XRP token for settlement.

Ripple mentions that in Q4 of 2022, ODL was launched in “France and Sweden in partnership with payments providers Lemonway and Xbaht, respectively.” Similar developments were noted in Africa via MFS Africa, a leading payments gateway in the region.

XRP price continues to struggle

XRP price rallied 29% since January 1 and set up a local top at $0.448. While impressive, this uptrend shies in comparison to the returns of Bitcoin, Ethereum or other altcoin rallies. Regardless, the remittance token sliced through the $0.400 hurdle and set up a local top at $0.431.

Now, a breakdown of the $0.400-to-$0.380 support structure will signal the start of a downtrend. In such a case, XRP price could retest the immediate support level at $0.367, but a breakdown of this level will send it down to $0.337. This move would constitute a 13% downswing.

Although unlikely, a spike in selling pressure that pushes XRP price to breach the $0.337 barrier will open the path for bears to continue their rampage and tag the $0.288 barrier. 

XRP/USDT 1-day chart

Regardless of the short-term bearish outlook, XRP price can sidestep this fate by producing a daily candlestick close above the $0.448 hurdle. This flip would provide sidelined buyers a signal to accumulate, triggering another leg-up to $0.4781.