XRP price is far from untangling from the sell-off triggered by the FTX crypto crash. However, bulls seem to hold firmly to a support established at $0.3500. As highlighted in the eight-hour time frame chart, XRP has tapped into a crucial demand area. Here’s where it’s headed next.
Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity Now Spans Worldwide
Ripple kicked off this week with news regarding expanding its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) solution to Africa. The international money transfer company says, “Africa holds 70% of the world’s $1T mobile money value.” The partnership with MFS Africa “will further enhance digital payment rails across the continent.”
MFS Africa has one of the largest mobile money footprints in Africa. The company will leverage Ripple’s ODL solution to streamline real-time mobile payments for its customers across 35 countries.
The ODL solution does away with frictions and bottlenecks that are ailing money transfers across borders. It is suitable for Africa, thanks to its low transaction fees and faster payment settlement times.
“The Ripple MFS Africa partnership represents a confident, important and bold first step for our crypto strategy to leverage blockchain technologies to amplify our impact on consumers and businesses on the continent. growth in a new economy,” a statement by Dare Okoudjou, CEO at MFS Africa, reads in part.
Via a Twitter post on Wednesday, 16, Ripple reported that the ODL “solution has seen substantial adoption this year, and we have the technology, the global network, and the diverse list of customers to prove it.”
Despite the ongoing case between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company has continued its global expansion plan. It is this focus on growth and development that could be giving Ripple an edge over its competitors.
XRP Price Analysis as XRP Becomes 7th Biggest Cryptocurrency
XRP is now the seventh biggest cryptocurrency in the market after toppling Dogecoin. The token boasts $19 billion in market capitalization, with $1.4 billion traded across exchanges over the last 24 hours.
This optimistic outlook in XRP is probably fueled by the sixth annual RippleSwell Global conference in London. Ripple has, over the years, brought together key industry leaders, speakers, and esteemed customers to discuss the latest events in the crypto space while, at the same time, looking at the future of the industry.
The direction the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator takes in the same eight-hour time frame chart reinforces the positive outlook seen in XRP price. Buyers seem to be holding dearly to a buy signal sent when the 12-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) (in blue) crossed above the 26-day EMA (in brown).
XRP price uptrend is expected to continue alongside the MACD’s movement, currently eyeing the mean line. Buy orders will turn highly profitable if the MACD crosses into the positive region above the mean line (0.00).
XRP/USD daily chart
XRP price trades at $0.3727 at the time of writing. A break and hold above its immediate resistance at $0.3800 is needed to encourage investor confidence in the expected move to $1. Some traders will look for a take-profit target at $0.4200, near the 100-day EMA (in blue), although the most bullish investors could wait until XRP tags $0.50 before taking some money off the table.
Crypto Alternatives Offering Quicker Returns
XRP’s overall outlook seems bullish, and a win against the SEC would cement its path toward $1. However, the outcome of the case is still months away, and so some investors have started looking elsewhere for shorter-term profits. Listed below are some of the highest potential crypto presales on the market, enabling investors to get in at the ground floor.
Dash 2 Trade (D2T)
Social trading has, over the years, demystified trading, and Dash 2 Trade is on the path to becoming a frontrunner in this space. Users on this platform will have the opportunity to access world-class crypto analytics, making it easier for investors to make informed decisions.
Users on Dash 2 Trade will have the opportunity to get firsthand information to participate in presales, thanks to a bespoke scoring system. In close relation to presales, users will get alerts on new exchange listings where they can capitalize on quick gains.
RobotEra is a new Metaverse world where users will have the opportunity to own their own land and build on top of it, whatever they wish.
The platform’s native token, TARO, will be used as an in-house world currency. It will support buying and selling of NFT Robots, which can be traded with other users for profit.
RobotEra’s presale is already underway and selling out fast. TARO tokens are currently selling for $0.020, but this price is set to jump to $0.025 in the next stage, so interested investors will need to hurry.
Calvaria (RIA) is a play-to-earn video game in which players can collect, battle with and trade NFT-based cards. Under development for around a year, its alpha is due early next year. Interestingly, it will enable gamers to play it without having to hold any crypto, something which could make it more accessible to a wider pool of users.
In addition, its native token RIA can be used to purchase in-game items and for staking, giving it a strong use case within its ecosystem. The presale for the token has raised just over $1.7 million and is currently in its fourth stage, during which 40 RIA can be had for 1 USDT.
The market is currently in a news-driven environment where the prices of cryptocurrencies have been determined by news agenda rather than fundamentals.
Bitfinex analysts have warned crypto investors to be cautious as bitcoin’s (BTC) recovery over the weekend is not a sign that its correction is over; the asset could witness more bloodshed in the near term.
In the latest Bitfinex Alpha report, experts deemed the market’s reaction this week critical, especially as supply alleviated over the weekend could return when traditional markets open.
“No Man’s Land”
Since Saturday, bitcoin has risen almost 10% from $57,600 to $63,000, closing last week in the green. The asset has surged above the 125-day range low of $60,200, which it broke through earlier this month after news of the German government’s massive BTC selling hit the market.
Market sentiment began to improve after reports that wallets linked to the German government were almost empty. However, the positive sentiment may not be sustained for long as the BTC the German authorities moved to trading desks and exchanges are yet to be sold.
While the supply from Germany appears to have been factored into bitcoin’s market price, Bitfinex analysts believe the end of selling pressure depends on how the involved trading desks execute their trades in the coming days.
Although the shift in sentiment underscores the market’s capacity to integrate new information and adjust expectations quickly, analysts think the market’s reaction over the first two trading days of the week cannot be overlooked for two reasons.
First, the low support level in the $60,200 range has now become a potential resistance line. Second, trading patterns over the past three months suggest that weekends are usually favorable for markets, especially on Saturdays when supply pressure seems to subside.
“We are now in no man’s land until we get clear resolution above or below this level,” the analysts said.
A News-Driven Environment
Besides the potential resistance level and three-month weekend trading pattern, the market is currently in a news-driven environment, where the prices of cryptocurrencies have been determined by news agendas rather than fundamentals.
Since selling pressure concerns are not yet completely obsolete due to upcoming Mt Gox creditor distributions, Bitfinex analysts expect such headlines to continue to have some impact on price movements. As such, the analysts urged investors to exercise caution in their trading strategies.
BlackRock’s IBIT led with $117.25 million in inflows on July 15, also being the most traded Bitcoin ETF.
The US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a daily net inflow of $301 million on July 15th. This extended their winning streak to seven consecutive days amidst a broader market recovery.
None of the ETFs recorded outflows for the day.
Bitcoin ETFs Rake in $16.11B in Net Inflows Since Jan
According to the data compiled by SoSoValue, BlackRock’s IBIT, the top spot Bitcoin ETF by net asset value, recorded the largest net inflows of the day at $117.25 million. IBIT was also the most actively traded Bitcoin ETF on Monday, with a volume of $1.24 billion. Ark Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB came in close behind with net inflows of $117.19 million.
Fidelity’s FBTC experienced net inflows of $36.15 million on Monday, while Bitwise’s BITB saw $15.24 million in inflows. VanEck’s HODL, Invesco and Galaxy Digital’s BTCO, and Franklin Templeton’s EZBC funds also recorded net inflows. Meanwhile, Grayscale’s GBTC and other ETFs, such as Valkyrie’s BRRR, WisdomTree’s BTCW, and Hashdex’s DEFI, registered no flows for the day.
A total of $2.26 billion was traded on Monday. The trading volume for these ETFs was less than in March when it exceeded $8 billion on some days. Meanwhile, these funds have collectively attracted $16.11 billion in net inflow since their January launch.
What’s Next For Bitcoin?
Earlier this month, bitcoin’s price decline was mainly due to fears of massive selling pressure from Mt. Gox and the German government’s BTC sales.
But the assassination attempt on pro-crypto former US President and presumptive Republican candidate Donald Trump at Saturday’s rally seemed to spark a recovery in the world’s largest digital asset, and experts are bullish on the asset’s price trajectory going forward. Bitcoin surged more than 9% over the past week and was currently trading slightly below $64,000.
Veteran trader Peter Brandt discussed bitcoin’s price outlook, suggesting a potential major rally. He referred to a pattern he terms “Hump->Slump->Bump->Dump->Pump” and highlighted that the July 5 double top attempt was a bear trap, confirmed by the July 13 close. He sees a likely continued upward trend but warned that a close below $56,000 would negate this bullish view.
“Bitcoin $BTC could be unfolding its often-repeated Hump…Slump…Bump…Dump…Pump chart construction. Jul 5 attempt at the double top was a bear trap, confirmed by Jul 13 close. Most likely scenario now is that bears are trapped. Close below $56k negates this interpretation”
PeckShield alert reveals LI.FI’s protocol vulnerability is similar to a March 2022 attack, with the same bug recurring.
The decentralized finance (DeFi) platform LI.FI protocol has suffered an exploit amounting to over $8 million.
Cyvers Alerts reported detecting suspicious transactions within the LI.FI cross-chain transaction aggregator.
LI.FI Issues Warning After $8 Million Exploit
LI.FI confirmed the breach in a statement on July 16 via X: “Please do not interact with any http://LI.FI powered applications for now! We’re investigating a potential exploit.” The team clarified that users who did not set infinite approval are not at risk, emphasizing that only those who manually set infinite approvals seem to be affected.
According to Cyvers Alerts, more than $8 million in user funds have been stolen, with the majority being stablecoins. According to on-chain data, the hacker’s wallet holds 1,715 Ether (ETH) valued at $5.8 million and USDC, USDT, and DAI stablecoins.
Cyvers Alerts advised users to revoke relevant authorizations immediately, noting that the attacker is actively converting USDC and USDT into ETH.
Crypto security firm Decurity provided insights into the exploit, stating that it involves the LI.FI bridge. “The root cause is a possibility of an arbitrary call with user-controlled data via depositToGasZipERC20() in GasZipFacet, which was deployed 5 days ago,” Decurity explained on X.
“In general, the risks behind routers, cross-chain swaps, etc. are about token approvals. Raw native assets like (unwrapped) ETH are safe from these kinds of hacks b/c they don’t have approvals as an option. Most users & wallets also no longer do “infinite approvals” which gives a smart contract total control on removing any amount of their tokens. It’s important to understand which tokens you’re approving to which contracts.
This dashboard looks for all transactions of a user that intersects Lifi. Not all of these transactions indicate risk- but you can see how, broadly, integrations & layers of tech (like how Metamask bridge uses Lifi on BSC) can complicate how users do or don’t put their assets at risk. Revoke Cash is the most well known approval manager app.
But it’s also good security practice to simply rotate your address. New addresses start with 0 approvals, so starting fresh by moving your tokens to a fresh address is another good security practice.” – commented Carlos Mercado, Data Scientist at Flipside Crypto.
Recent Exploit Mirrors March 2022 Attack
Further analysis by PeckShield alert revealed that the vulnerability is similar to a previous attack on LI.FI’s protocol that occurred on March 20, 2022. That incident saw a bad actor exploit LI.FI’s smart contract, specifically the swapping feature, before bridging.
The attacker manipulated the system to call token contracts directly within their contract’s context, making users who had given infinite approval vulnerable. This exploit resulted in the theft of approximately 205 ETH from 29 wallets, affecting tokens such as USDC, MATIC, RPL, GNO, USDT, MVI, AUDIO, AAVE, JRT, and DAI.
“The bug is basically the same. Are we learning anything from the past lesson(s)?” PeckShield Alert said in a July 16 X post.
Following the 2022 incident, LI.FI disabled all swap methods in its smart contract and worked on developing a fix to prevent future vulnerabilities. However, the recurrence of a similar exploit raises concerns about the platform’s security measures and whether adequate steps were taken to address the vulnerabilities identified in the previous breach.
LI.FI is a liquidity aggregation protocol that allows users to trade across various blockchains, venues, and bridges.
