XRP Price Prediction: Will Powell propel Ripple or dampen the 2023 bull rally?

Ripple (XRP) price sees traders front-running the main event for today with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell taking the stage later this evening at 17:00 GMT in Washington. Markets and traders will be on edge to hear from Powell on how he perceived the market reaction after his rate hike comments from last week. With an undeniable shift in the markets, traders will be looking for confirmation and a possible leg lower instead of the small counteractive moves on the quote boards during the European session. The Australian Central Bank (RBA) came out with a surprise hike and guidance of more hikes to come as inflation is not coming down.

Ripple price has broken support 

Ripple price broke below the 200-day Simple Moving Average just below $0.4000 on Monday as the US Dollar came roaring back with over 2% gains in EUR/USD. The bond market got a knock-out punch with several sovereign bonds tanking, which meant that rates peaked higher, triggering risk-off sentiment across the board. With that overall coordinated move, cryptocurrencies could not make a fist against the bearishness and had to forfeit their attempts to hold ground, certainly as now the RBA is joining the camp of the Fed with a hawkish tilt. 

On the back of the RBA news, XRP has broken below the 200-day SMA and looks to be setting sail toward $0.3710 where the 55-day SMA is nearby. The monthly pivot for February can be disregarded as it does not align with past relevance. Should more US Dollar strength come in on the back of Powell’s speech later this evening and dampen further hopes of a dovish tilt, expect pressure on $0.3710 with a break and reentering of the area that could lead to $0.3000 in the long run.

XRP/USD daily chart

If Powell can soothe the bearishness a bit by saying that they still see inflation coming down gradually, that could help markets rediscover their positive mojo. Bulls would be happy to buy into XRP just below the 200-day SMA and push price action back up with a test against $0.4228. With the multiple tops, once broken, a rally toward $0.48 looks confirmed