XRP price defends $0.35 support as 24-hour trading volume hits the $2 billion mark

XRP price is printing its first green 12-hour up candle after the crypto market bled again due to the aftermath of the FTX crisis. Over the last 24 hours, the seventh-largest cryptocurrency saw a massive uptick in traded volume marginally above $2 billion.

However, most of this volume pushed down on XRP price amid concerns over the hacker who made away with $600 million, mainly in Ethereum from FTX. Since Saturday, the ‘FTX drainer’ has been moving and swapping coins from one blockchain to another. Approximately $72.9 million is currently bridged to renBTC.

XRP price recovers as investor risk appetite steadily improves

XRP price is bouncing and part of the reason may have to do with the cryptocurrency being back at the top of the investors’ preferred list, especially now that large volume holders are grabbing the token in droves. Addresses with 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 tokens have grown to hold 6.75% of XRP’s supply compared to a 30-day low of 6.27%.

XRP Supply Distribution

Investors will likely continue buying XRP this week if the Market Value Realized Value (MVRV) profit/loss model stays below the mean line at 1, which indicates many may still be ‘out of the money’. Although the ratio has recovered since November 9, when it hit -25.56%, XRP is still in the buy zone at -11.52%.

Investors often prefer holding onto their assets when the MVRV drops below 1 to avoid selling at a loss. As the price recovers, some holders offload their bags at a profit by selling when the ratio exceeds 1.

XRP MVRV ratio

XRP price defends key support

The whales in the XRP ecosystem have not wavered despite the price drop. The buying pressure they create helps to keep the XRP price afloat, like the support at $0.3500.

XRP price now trades at $0.3570 while printing a 12-hour bullish candlestick. Against all odds, bulls managed to defend the support at $0.3500 and prevent the breakout from a bearish pennant pattern, as illustrated in the chart below.

XRPUSD 12-hour chart

Bearish pennant patterns occur after a significant sharp downtrend in price followed by a short consolidation period. Sellers use this time to catch their breath before pushing the price lower. Therefore, if confirmed, XRP price may retest support at $0.3000 before another recovery attempt.

XRP price is still not out of the woods yet, however, given that the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator is about to flash a sell signal. Traders looking to short XRP must wait for the 12-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) (in blue) to cross below the 26-day EMA (in brown) before activating their orders.

On the upside, upholding the uptrend above $0.3500 is crucial to flipping the outlook in XRP from bearish to bullish. Nevertheless, XRP will only be safe after it breaks above the pennant pattern, followed by a break and hold above $0.4000.