XRP Hits Two-Month Price High in Wake of Ether Rally

XRP, the cryptocurrency used in Ripple Labs' payments network, is rallying on the coattails of altcoin leader ether's recent move to record highs. 

XRP rose to $0.72 early Monday to hit the highest level since Feb. 2 and was last seen changing hands near $0.70. The third-largest cryptocurrency by market value has gained 18% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk 20 data.

The price rise comes three days after the Ethereum blockchain's ether token set new lifetime highs near $2,100. Since then, the second-largest coin has established a foothold above $2,000, helping XRP and few other alternative cryptocurrencies such as tron, stellar, orchid, bitcoin cash, and eos score gains amid the dull action in bitcoin – the crypto market leader. 

"We're not seeing anything specific to XRP and the move feels more like an altcoin season type move given outperformance in other tokens as well," Joel Kruger, currency strategist at LMAX Digital, told CoinDesk. Names like TRON and siacoin "are performing even better than XRP on this more thinly traded Easter holiday Monday."

With a move to two-month highs, XRP has now completely reversed losses suffered in December after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a case against Ripple for raising $1.3 billion by selling XRP in unregistered securities offerings. 

Ripple executives' attorney James K Filan tweeted on Saturday that Ripple and the SEC have reached an agreement to keep the payment company's two of the four private email correspondences from being scrutinized under the ongoing lawsuit. So far, analysts are not sure if that's powering XRP higher. 

However, according to chart studies, the cryptocurrency's prospects look bright, one analyst said. 

"XRP has formed an inverse 'head and shoulder' pattern with head at 20 cents and shoulders at 40 cents, and neckline resistance passing through 70 cents," Delta Exchange CEO Pankaj Balani told CoinDesk. 

Balani foresees XRP rallying to $1.00 and possibly $1.30 on a breakout above the neckline resistance. 

"The pattern has formed over the six months; therefore, in case of a breakout, the bullish move is expected to be quick and sustainable," Balani said in a WhatsApp chat, adding that volatility is likely to remain high due to the SEC lawsuit. 

Also read: Ripple Touts Role for XRP in Central Bank Digital Currency White Paper