Ripple’s XRP is off to a bearish start on Tuesday, weighed down by a weak mood among investors towards cryptocurrencies in general as market leaders Bitcoin and Ethereum trade in the red. At the time of writing, XRP/USD is trading at around $1.12 and is down by nearly 12% for the week.

The bearish moves were triggered by a sharp downslide in BTC and ETH, both of which have lost over 5% of their values in the past 24 hours, although they are able to hold above key levels at $60,000 and $4,000 respectively. Weighing on the investor sentiment is news about the US infrastructure bill getting signed by President Joe Biden into law, which includes tax reporting provisions that impact Americans’ crypto holdings. The law will force crypto brokers to disclose information about their customers while businesses and exchanges will have to report any transaction over $10,000 made in cryptos.

Meanwhile, on the fundamentals front, the XRP could find some support from a recent announcement of how Ripple’s global payment network RippleNet will be used to enable faster and cheaper remittances between the UAE and Pakistan. Leading financial services provider Lulu Exchange has announced a strategic collaboration with one of Pakistan’s largest financial institutions, Bank Alfalah, to leverage RippleNet and Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) to power cross-border payments. This is the latest among several partnerships announced in the APAC and MENA region by the company.

Messari CEO Says Ripple’s Actions Could be Fraud, Not Illegal

Ripple’s XRP could also find some support from recent comments from Messari’s CEO Ryan Selkis, arguing that the company could be considered guilty of fraud instead of being sued by the SEC for violating securities law. Selkis recently took to Twitter criticizing the SEC’s handling of the case, stating that Ripple “misled XRP holders over insider token selling, selectively disclosed data, and hyped partnerships as value additive to the underlying currency. SEC is fighting technical securities violations, while ignoring the Safe Harbor, which would prevent fraud.”

The Twitter thread, unsurprisingly, went on to gain significant traction, with several prominent experts supporting Selkis’s views. Founder of Crypto Law, John Deaton, added, “Testifying before Congress, Gensler refused to answer whether or not he had read @HesterPeirce’s Safe Harbor, which means he hasn’t. The mere fact that he hasn’t even taken the small amount of time to read her Safe Harbor tells you everything you need to know about his intent.”

XRP/USD Technical Analysis

According to a leading crypto analyst who goes under the name Altcoin Sherpa, the lengthy accumulation phase in XRP could soon be coming to an end, and it could be gearing up for a big breakout. After experiencing low volatility for a while, Ripple’s cryptocurrency could pop when the altcoin rally takes off in the coming sessions.

On the 4-hour chart of XRP/USD, moving averages and the MACD are exhibiting a strong bearish bias. However, the momentum indicator points to some interest among buyers as well.

Ripple’s XRP price is sitting under the pivot point at $1.21 but above the immediate support at $1.08 for now. Keep a close watch on the support level as it could break down if the selling pressure builds up further.