XRP Outlook Sours as Coinbase Quashes Listing Rumor

Ripple's XRP token was the darling of the crypto markets 24 hours ago on rampant speculation that the cryptocurrency will finally take its spot on Coinbase's exchanges. But it wasn't to be.

Prices popped to a 12-day high of $1.08 before Coinbase poured cold water on the enthusiasm, making it clear via Twitter that it has no intention of adding XRP to its existing pairs – yet, anyway.

Fueling the rumor, was talk that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Coinbase president and COO Asiff Hirji would appear together on CNBC's "Fast Money" program on Tuesday. Later, a CNBC article confirmed the appearances, but said they were separate and unrelated interviews.

So, the twin rebuttals look to have taken the steam out of the XRP rally, pushing the prices to a low of $0.93 soon before press time. The cryptocurrency is now down 11.58 percent over 24 hours.

More generally, Korean exchanges are driving XRP's trading volume, with Bithumb, Upbit, and Coinone accounting for close to 38 percent of the total seen in the last 24 hours.

Price chart analysis indicates that the retreat from yesterday's 12-day high has weakened the bulls, but the slightest of positive comments from Ripple CEO Garlinghouse might put a bid under the cryptocurrency once more.

Daily chart

The above chart (prices as per Bitfinex) shows:

• XRP ran into offers above the descending trendline resistance (drawn from the Jan. 28 high and Feb. 17 high) yesterday and closed (as per UTC) at $0.93, adding credence to the bearish 50-day moving average (MA) and 100-day MA crossover.
• The token's dip below the ascending trendline support (drawn from the Dec. 7 low and Feb. 6 low) has weakened the bulls and opened the doors for a drop to $0.86 (78.6 percent Fibonacci retracement of the rally from the Dec. 7 low and Jan. 4 high).
• The relative strength index (RSI) is biased bearish (below 50.00).

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• While the daily chart seems to favor the bears, still only a daily close (as per UTC) below $0.8610 (78.6 percent Fibonacci retracement) would confirm bearish reversal and could yield drop to 200-day MA located at $0.65.
• On the bull side, a high volume break above the 100-day MA of $1.10 would signal a continuation of the rally from the Feb. 6 lows below $0.57 and allow a stronger rally to $1.38–$1.40.

XRP/BTC chart

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So, XRP/BTC will likely break below the March 3 low of 0.000078 BTC and drop to 0.00006151 BTC (Dec. 26 low).

On the higher side, a daily close (as per UTC) above 0.000095175 BTC (61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement) would signal bearish invalidation.

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Ripple, the company that oversees XRP development.

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