Ripple’s XRP has slide under the $0.90 mark after failing to build enough momentum to take on the key $1 level, lacking enough fundamental drivers for more bullish price action in the last week of 2021. At the time of writing, XRP/USD is trading at around $0.884.

Over the past week, the seventh largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has managed to register small gains, reclaiming the $0.90 level after several sessions of sluggish moves under it. One of the biggest factors keeping the XRP under pressure is the weak market sentiment, although it has since improved somewhat after leader Bitcoin climbed back above the $50,000 mark.

While several experts had predicted quite the bull run in the crypto market towards the end of the year, leading coin BTC actually slid lower and took down almost the entire market with it. Even Ethereum has been unable to make significant progress past the $4,000 level, indicating a hesitant mood among investors, which is also preventing Ripple’s XRP from experiencing much volatility lately.

Some Fundamentals Offer Hope For Ripple’s XRP

On a positive note, however, there are many analysts who anticipate a rally in Ripple’s XRP in 2022, expecting the lawsuit to go against the SEC and in favor of Ripple. Crypto experts forecast a rally well into the double digits for Ripple’s crypto if the company wins the lawsuit, especially since it already enjoys support from robust adoption of its technology by mainstream financial institutions worldwide for facilitating efficient cross-border payments and transactions.

Last week saw the XRPL Foundation partner and host the Apex Developer Summit, an event which encouraged discussion among developers from around the world building on the XRP Ledger – Ripple’s blockchain. The event saw Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz discuss the concept of Federated Sidechains, a feature which can foster the development of DeFi, NFTs, CBDCs and more applications all on the network.

One of the most exciting upcoming dApps discussed during the Apex Developer Summit was Ledger City – an immersive 3D experience featuring buildings for accounts held. This could be Ripple’s foray into the metaverse and is expected to launch in early 2022, a development which is sure to propel the value of the XRP higher when it does.

XRP/USD Technical Analysis

Technical analysis of the H4 price chart reveals a bearish bias among almost all moving averages as well as the leading technical indicators MACD and momentum. Only the 100 SMA points to some buying interest in the market for now.

Ripple’s XRP is trading under the pivot point at $0.92 although the immediate support at $0.82 is holding well for now. We need to pay close attention to this level as it could get tested if bearish pressure builds up further.