Will Coinbase halting support for Ripple from its wallet result in a 16% crash in XRP price?

• Coinbase announced that support for Ripple and a few other cryptocurrencies would be removed due to low usage.
• Ripple is up by 5.2% over the last 48 hours, looking to reclaim its immediate support at $0.4092.
• If FTX-induced contagion creates bearishness in the market, XRP price could test $0.3497, losing which will invalidate the bullish thesis.

Coinbase’s decision to halt the support came from the lack of demand, which is a step up for the crypto market. This is because every negative development in the last few weeks in space has been caused by FTX’s collapse. However, the crypto exchange’s downfall is still a danger for XRP price, more so than the Coinbase wallet stopping support for the asset.

Coinbase heeds to its users

Coinbase, in an announcement on November 29, stated that its wallet would no longer support Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Stellar (XLM). The decision from the second biggest crypto exchange in the world came after Coinbase found that the usage of these assets was low.

Consequently, as of January 2023, the aforementioned tokens’ support will be terminated on the platform. However, the exchange reassured that no asset would be lost and that users would be able to recover them via their recovery phases.

Of the assets set to lose support, Ripple emerged as the more surprising asset as it did not seem to be in demand despite being in the headlines. The cryptocurrency is already embroiled in a lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which Ripple also blames for FTX’s downfall.

The General Counsel of Ripple, Stuart Alderoty, tweeted that BlockFi’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy was SEC’s doing. Earlier this year, the crypto lender was fined $100 million for its failure to register its retail crypto lending product. Alderoty framed this as,

XRP price on a rise

XRP price could be seen hovering at $0.3959 after registering a 5.2% rise over the last two days. The cryptocurrency is on the way to reclaiming an important support level, but for XRP to do the same, it will have to gain more buying pressure.

This would push the price of the asset toward $0.4092, which stands as the immediate resistance for XRP price. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicates an increase in buyers’ presence, which is necessary for flipping $0.4092 into support. This will allow XRP price to kickstart a rally to tag $0.4359, provided it can breach the resistance at $0.4208.

XRP/USDT 4-hour chart

However, if the fear of crypto market contagion caused by FTX’s collapse takes precedence, XRP price could decline. This will lead to the altcoin testing its immediate support at $0.3769. 

Losing this level will result in XRP price trickling toward $0.3497, which acts as critical support. A daily candlestick close below this price level will invalidate the bullish thesis, bringing the altcoin to $0.3310 and resulting in a 16% crash.