XRP price rallies 12% but whales have another plan in mind

• XRP price rallied 12% in the last five days to breach a two-month hurdle, suggesting a breakout.
• While this outlook is bullish, a spike in whale transaction count greater than $100,000 indicates that smart investors are booking profits.
• A four-hour candlestick close above $0.400 will indicate the persistence of bulls and invalidate the potential bearish outlook.

XRP price shows strength as it recently breached an important hurdle. However, in doing so, it now faces another challenging barrier, which could trigger a correction for the remittance token. Additionally, Ripple enthusiasts need to exercise caution as whales are likely booking profits, which could add a tailwind to the bearish outlook.

Ripple price and its faux strength

Ripple price has been subdued under the declining trendline for roughly two months. Every attempt at breaching this trendline failed, but the slow ascent over the last five days has overcome this blockade as XRP price inflated by 12%. 

While this move was a bullish development, the remittance token now faces the $0.374 resistance level, which has been a critical support/resistance since May 2022. Therefore, investors need to prepare for a pullback.

Depending on the market conditions, XRP price could restart its consolidation above the $0.333 support level. But a breakdown of this support floor will likely send Ripple down to the $0.288 barrier. 

XRP/USD 4-hour chart

Further adding support to Ripple’s bearish outlook is the whale transaction metric that tracks dealings worth $100,000 or more. If this indicator notes a spike after a small uptick in the underlying asset’s price, it will indicate that these smart money addresses are booking profits.

The same is happening with Ripple after its 12% ascent. The whale transaction count has spiked from 11 to 222, denoting a 20X rise.

XRP whale transaction count

While things are looking bearish for Ripple price, a flip of $0.400 hurdle on the four-hour and preferably the one-day time frame will invalidate the bearish thesis. In such a case, XRP price could attempt a rally to retest the $0.448 resistance level.

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