After a prolonged period of flat price action that spanned the first three quarters of the year, XRP seems poised to finish the year off strongly.
In tandem with the wider cryptocurrency market bull run that started in November following the U.S. presidential elections, the digital asset saw a significant price surge. Before the uptrend started, XRP was trading at roughly $0.50 — at press time, prices have increased to $2.41, receding from a prior high of $2.71 on December 2.
With this latest move, XRP’s year-to-date (YTD) gains stand at an impressive 292.55% — on a monthly basis, the cryptocurrency has seen prices increase by 261.95%. These returns put the token in the upper echelon — particularly once we factor in that it provides actual utility, unlike many of the digital assets that have seen similar price increases in recent times.
At present, it would seem like most crypto analysts are quite bullish on XRP and the wider Ripple Labs ecosystem, particularly as its stablecoin, RLUSD, has recently received final approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
Most of the analysis being done has extremely long timeframes in mind (at least by the crypto market’s standards) — which see XRP outperforming the wider market and reaching prices as high as $48.
However, a recently spotted chart pattern suggests that the token could reach a price of $4 in short order, after a temporary setback — as detailed by renowned cryptocurrency technical analyst Ali Martinez in a December 12 X post.
Bull flag suggests XRP will see a sharp move to the upside
The chart shared by Martinez depicts a bull flag chart pattern that began forming on December 3. This pattern is characterized by two segments — a ‘flagpole’ representing an initial increase in price, followed by a ‘flag’ in which price action is choppy, with small moves to the downside.
A formation of this type is a bullish continuation pattern — signaling that the thus-prevailing uptrend will continue after the short period of consolidation.
In the case of a bull flag, the rule of thumb is as follows — a price target is set that is equal to the height of the initial upward price movement. Readers should note that the single green candle seen in the chart above, corresponding to December 3, is not the entirety of the flagpole — rather, the flagpole starts at the beginning of the chart, around November 29.
With that in mind, Martinez set a price target slightly above $4 — although the expert did caution that the TD Sequential recently flashed a sell signal on XRP’s 4-hour chart. This could lead to a brief correction — but if the analysis holds water, this could be a positive on the whole — representing a more attractive entry point for a long position.
Martinez also noted that traders should keep an eye out for price action near the $2.46 mark — a breakout above those levels would serve as confirmation of the pattern, and would mark the beginning of another upswing.
