XRP price skyrocketed on the much-anticipated Coinbase listing. Will it keep its momentum going? The Sunday’s bloodbath was distressing, but the cryptocurrency market has swiftly rebounded after Coinbase (finally) embraced XRP. The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange said that it would list the third biggest coin by market capitalization on Feb. 26. Three trading pairs with XRP In its statement, which was released on Feb. 25, the company states that Coinbase Pro will list three XRP trading pairs with the US dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), and Bitcoin (BTC). Ripple’s XRP will be available for Coinbase Pro users in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Singapore. Coinbase Pro already started accepting inbound transfers on Feb 25, but the trading will now begin until there is sufficient supply of XRP on the exchange. The launch of XRP trading will be conducted in four stages. An imminent price pump The announcement immediately made XRP price spike by almost 10 percent. At the time of writing, the coin sits at $0.32. Other currencies followed suit with — almost the whole top 10 is in the green. Bitcoin SV (BSV), which occupies 11th place, had the biggest price spike of 15.90 percent. As reported earlier by U.Today, XRP experienced a similar price pump when Binance decided to make everyone’s favorite cross-border payment token their new base pair on Dec. 24.<doc-sep>The announcement surprised a market that loses momentum quickly. Bitcoin and Ethereum enter a zone of a strong gravitational downward spiral because of moving averages. In the next few days, the battle will take shape of “dogfighting” and will impact the medium term. The news of the day is undoubtedly the announcement made yesterday by the American company Coinbase at the close of the American session. The users of the Coinbase Pro exchange will now be able to transfer and trade XRP. It was a long-awaited announcement that came as a surprise without much being said in previous days. The XRP/USD pair shot up 10% and dragged part of the market with it. At the time of writing, XRP has lost half of its gains against the primary assets as profits are reduced. Many secondary Cryptocurrencies continue to rise sharply, such as ENJ (Enjin Coin) with +135% or BAT with 35%. The asset that seems weakest is Ethereum, seemingly ignoring the launch of the Constantinople layer scheduled for Thursday, February 28th. This market has accustomed us to this type of spikes related to news of the implementation. But in this case, it is possible that markets already discounted this fact in the first launch attempt in January and now cut another possible delay. In the four-hour chart, the price has gone to look for the zones of the technical confluence of the typical moving averages, reason why it enters in a "gravitational" zone that is going to condition the price in the next days. Do you want to know more about my technical setup? BTC/USD 240 Minute Chart The BTC/USD pair is currently trading at the $3.789 price level after failing to break the 50-period exponential moving average by $3.845. The price is now in a compression zone between this exponential average and the simple average of 100 periods at $3.740. BTC/USD, therefore, enters an area with much capacity to trap the price which complicates enough that the increase in volatility seen during the weekend remains. The most likely scenario for the rest of the week is that of slightly bullish laterality in a range between $3,900 and $3,650. Above the current price, the BTC/USD pair has a first resistance level of $3.842 (EMA50), then a second resistance level at the price level of $3.890 (congestion resistance) and a critical third resistance level at the price level of $4.050 (congestion resistance). Below the current price, the first support level is at $3,740 (SMA100), the second support level is at $3,790 (price congestion support), and the third support level is at $3,600 (SMA200 and price congestion support). The MACD on the 4-hour chart shows a profile similar to that seen on the BTC/USD pair, although in this case, does not show a possible bearish development in the short term. In this case, a quick look at the indicator’s daily range shows us that the pair is at a crucial decision point in the medium term. The DMI in the 4-hour range shows us that bears have little self-confidence, as they respond to downturns with a decrease in activity. On the other hand, the bulls remain in a sustained sideways range and react quickly to any bullish attempt. ETH/USD 240 Minute Chart The ETH/USD pair is currently trading at the $137 price level. Yesterday's rally was halted in the dry as it reached the $142.5 price congestion resistance level. Ethereum is trapped between the main moving averages, so its movement will be limited. The critical moment for the Ethereum may come on Thursday, with the release of the Constantinople version on the MainNet. Due to the failure of the first attempt, the market is likely to wait for a confirmation before reacting. Above the current price, the first resistance level for the pair is at the $142.5 price level, then the second resistance level is at $151 (price congestion resistance), while the third resistance level is at $161.5 (price congestion resistance). Below the current price, the first support level is at $135 (SMA100), while the second support level for the ETH/USD pair is at $131 (price congestion support). If ETH/USD loses this support level, the drop could accelerate to the third level of support in the $121 zone (price congestion support and SMA200). The MACD on the 4-hour chart shows a profile similar to that seen on the BTC/USD pair, although the, in this case, does not show a possible bearish development in the short term. In this case, a quick look at the indicator, but in this case in the daily range, lets us see that the ETH/BTC pair is at a crucial decision point in the medium term. The DMI in the 4-hour range shows bears with little self-confidence, as they respond to downturns with a decrease in activity. On the other hand, the bulls remain in a sustained lateral range and react quickly to any bullish attempt. XRP/USD 240 Minute Chart The XRP/USD is currently trading at the $0.32 price level, after reaching the $0.34 level yesterday as Coinbase Pro announced the availability of this token on the trading floor. At the opening of the European session, XRP has lost momentum and has come down to seek support at the EMA50 at the current $0.32 price level. For now, it is reluctant to enter the moving averages attraction zone. Above the current price, the first resistance level for the XRP/USD pair is at $0.328 (price congestion resistance), while the second resistance level is at $0.335 (price congestion resistance). Above this second resistance, an abyss opens above XRP to the third resistance at $0.39 (price congestion resistance). Below the current price, the first support level is at $0.319 (EMA50 and price congestion support), then a second support level at $0.313 (SMA100) and a third support level at $0.309 (SMA200 and price congestion support). The MACD on the 4-hour chart shows an inverse profile to that seen in both Bitcoin and Ethereum. The pattern shows a bullish cut in development but weakened by its situation in the negative zone of the indicator. This situation would change fast if we could cross to the upside area of the MACD. The DMI on the 4-hour chart shows the bulls in control of the situation and entirely convinced of yesterday's bullish movement. On the other hand, the bears are withdrawing but retaining trend strength that would allow them to take over in case the bulls give up the leadership. Get 24/7 Crypto updates in our social media channels: Give us a follow at @FXSCrypto and our FXStreet Crypto Trading Telegram channel<doc-sep>XRP/USD once again saw big buyers coming in to protect the psychological $0.3000 mark. It has been proven on countless occasions; buying taking place from the $0.3000-0.2500 range, historically proven to attract much interest. Ripple’s XRP is seen trading up with chunky gains of around 5% towards the latter stages of trading on Monday. The price managing to recover after taking a beating on Sunday, something that was observed across the market. Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers. The author will not be held responsible for information that is found at the end of links posted on this page. If not otherwise explicitly mentioned in the body of the article, at the time of writing, the author has no position in any stock mentioned in this article and no business relationship with any company mentioned. The author has not received compensation for writing this article, other than from FXStreet. FXStreet and the author do not provide personalized recommendations. The author makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of this information. FXStreet and the author will not be liable for any errors, omissions or any losses, injuries or damages arising from this information and its display or use. Errors and omissions excepted. The author and FXStreet are not registered investment advisors and nothing in this article is intended to be investment advice.<doc-sep>
Ripple’s XRP has been the third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization for some time and has built a wide and loyal following. However, it has always missed some ingredient to get listed on the United States’ biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase — that is, until now. Coinbase has announced the availability of XRP trading on its professional platform in the U.S. (excluding New York), European Union, Canada, Singapore, and Australia — with additional jurisdictions being added later. When XRP?? Now! XRP/USD, XRP/EUR, and XRP/BTC order books will soon enter transfer-only mode, accepting inbound transfers of XRP in supported regions. Orders cannot be placed or filled. Order books will be in transfer-only mode for a minimum of 12 hours. https://t.co/MWUtUm4wRh — Coinbase Pro (@CoinbasePro) February 25, 2019 XRP: The Standard Centralized Coin? XRP has always been a polarizing topic of discussion within the cryptocurrency community. On one side, it is lauded by its loyal supporters — often labeled the XRP Army — as a solution to Bitcoin’s scalability and transaction speed issues. On the other side, cryptocurrency advocates view it as a centralized “banker’s coin” that should not be part of the movement started by Bitcoin (BTC). Among the ardent supporters of decentralization, XRP has had its reputation tarnished. The community sees the cryptocurrency as an intruder in the ecosystem, representing all the problems of centralization and the current financial system in the guise of a cryptocurrency. This is primarily because XRP is built on a ledger infrastructure which is mostly managed by the Ripple company and has a centrally controlled mechanism for coin emission. Brian Armstrong, currently CEO of Coinbase, previously voiced his doubts over the viability of Ripple (which recently transitioned to XRP). As Coinbase has made aggressive expansion as its top priority, it seems that the co-founder and CEO has also had a change of heart. https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/569914763263606785 Coinbase’s Digital Asset Framework Maybe something changed about XRP to warrant a spot among the few select digital assets available on Coinbase. One of the key principles in Coinbase’s Digital Asset Framework is that the network should be public, decentralized, and enable trustless consensus. Despite Ripple continuously claiming that XRP is fully-decentralized, this is widely contested within the community. Therefore, XRP still remains one of the more centralized cryptocurrencies — according to experts and enthusiasts alike. This leads to another set of problems that Ripple and XRP have had to battle with — clarification over whether XRP classifies as a security or not. Should XRP be classified as such, it would heavily impact its attractiveness to investors and exchanges, as securities are subject to significantly stricter regulations. Moreover, Coinbase has an explicit requirement that any digital asset that gets to be listed shouldn’t be classified as a security under the exchange’s Securities Law Framework. While Ripple and XRP have a massive following and have been able to build a rapport with a number of financial institutions, the latter still remains a centralized digital currency with the risk of being classified as a security. [bctt tweet=”Considering the lack of a clear response from officials regarding XRP’s status, is Coinbase willing to bet on the legitimacy of the digital assset?” username=”beincrypto”] Trading XRP might represent a huge business opportunity for any cryptocurrency exchange, but Coinbase appears to be simply failing to follow its own rulebook for listing digital assets. Furthermore, with the CEO dismissing Ripple and other similar altcoins in the past, the announced listing is a complete departure from that position. As such, can users even trust Coinbase’s digital asset framework when there is no consistency in their vision and decisions? What is your opinion on Coinbase listing XRP? Is Coinbase tarnishing its own reputation by not following its framework? Or is there some regulatory clarity around XRP that is soon to surface in the public realm? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Image courtesy of Twitter, Shutterstock.