XRP shot up 20% today… on old news?

Ripple’s XRP is rising in price, but the reasons are not entirely clear. Between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm UTC today, XRP gained approximately 20% in value, based on data from TradingView.com. The asset has rallied about 83% total since Friday and is up roughly 98% since Wednesday.

XRP’s price rally seemingly lacks any specific news-related catalyst. Information has surfaced regarding the inclusion of Bank of America to Ripple’s payment network, RippleNet, based on a Monday brief from media outlet Ripple News. However, looking at the Wayback Machine — a platform that allows users to browse historical snapshots of websites — it would appear that BoA has been a member since at least March 2019.

As far as other reasons for the price pump, the action could simply be the result of “BTC profit taking rotating into alts,” Josh Olszewicz, known as CarpeNoctom on Twitter, told Cointelegraph. When Bitcoin consolidates, altcoins sometimes rise in price. The reverse can also happen when Bitcoin pumps and steals the show.

“XRP also had a technical breakout,” Olszewicz said, referring to a formation on the asset’s price chart called an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern. Olszewicz forecasted the move on Friday, posting a bullish chart while mentioning a $0.50 price target. “Prob the most bullish it's looked in years,” he said in the Friday tweet.

Bitcoin (BTC), crypto's leading asset, has increased tremendously in price over the past few weeks, knocking on the door of its all-time price high from 2017, near $20,000. Some altcoins have followed Bitcoin’s lead, although XRP has remained relatively quiet until its recent surge began last week.

Perhaps XRP’s most famous run to date occurred in January 2018, when the asset breached $3 per coin.