XRP Price Slips Below $0.5: What’s Happening?

XRP price has been in a freefall for the past few days as macroeconomic factors eclipse the euphoria around Ethereum’s Shapella upgrade. At press time, XRP was changing hands at $0.4707. The altcoin’s total market cap has crashed 4.73% to $24.3 billion over the last day, while the total volume of XRP increased slightly higher. XRP currently ranks as the 6^th largest cryptocurrency after the USD Coin and ahead of Cardano.

XRP price has been under intense pressure for the past few days on the back of the recent bearish sentiment in the crypto market. The global crypto market has been ticking lower for the past few days as crypto leaders, Bitcoin and Ethereum, led the losses. Statistics by Coinmarketcap show that the global crypto market cap has slipped to $1.19 trillion, a 2.30% decrease over the last day.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has 2.84% in the past 24 hours to $28,042, while Ethereum, the largest altcoin, fell 2.02% to $1,918.15. The performance of BTC and Ether largely influences the performance of other cryptocurrencies. The decline in crypto prices has been linked to the increase in selling pressure and profit-taking by investors.

Additionally, the uncertainty over the Fed’s monetary policy, as well as concerns about the global economy, have been outweighing post-Shapella gains. Markets have been pricing in a potential interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Markets anticipate a 25-basis point interest rate hike in the Fed’s next policy meeting in May. Higher interest rates tend to be bearish for risk assets such as cryptocurrencies.

The US Dollar index has been ticking higher over the past few days, hinting at a strengthening dollar. At the time of writing, the greenback was slightly higher at 101.885. A stronger dollar is usually a bearish factor for cryptocurrencies as investors tend to shift to traditional financial alternatives.

XRP price has been on a sharp decline for the past few days, falling more than 8% in the past week but 38.83% higher in the YTD. XRP has managed to retain its position above the 50-day and 100-day moving averages, as well as the 50-day and 200-day exponential moving averages. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator is bearish, while its Relative Strength Index (RSI) has slipped below the neutral zone.

Therefore, I expect the XRP price to continue falling in the medium term as macroeconomic concerns increase. If this happens, bears will be eyeing the next logical support level along the 200-day EMA at $0.4330. However, a move above the important resistance level at $0.4986 will invalidate this view.