XRP price takes a sudden downturn, nearly invalidating the uptrend noted since last week

• Ripple, in a recent job opening, stated that it was a federal contractor or subcontractor. 
• This is the first public admittance, albeit indirect, of Ripple engaging with the US government.
• XRP price is seeing a decline, invalidating the week-long uptrend that resulted in a 6% rally.

XRP price is seemingly losing the micro uptrend that it has been witnessing for the past few days amid mixed signals from the price indicators. On the other hand, Ripple has grabbed the attention of the crypto community for its rather unexpected affiliation with the United States government.

Ripple - A federal contractor

Ripple, in a job opening on its website, noted that the company was a federal contractor or subcontractor. This revelation came as the applicants for the open role were required to fill out a Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability form as per the law.

Ripple listing

A federal contractor are businesses or organizations that enter into a contractual agreement with any department or agency of the United States Government. 

This was a very surprising revelation, given that Ripple has been the biggest name in the fight against reprimands from the government for the past three years. Its legal fight against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has detailed a lot about the regulatory body’s stand on cryptocurrencies, with the company even changing the status of XRP from a “nonsecurity” to “security when sold to institutional customer”.

Although Ripple is not alien to working with law enforcement, the company was reported to be expanding its collaboration with the government. According to Ripple’s Europe head, Sendi Young, the company was in talks with more than a dozen governments around the world to develop Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC).

Despite the partial win in the US, SEC and Ripple are still butting heads consistently, with another hearing on the entire SEC vs Ripple narrative set to take place in Q2 this year. 

XRP price notes hint of bearishness

XRP price has been in an uptrend for the past couple of days on the micro timeframe. The 4-hour chart showcases that for the last week, XRP was making a recovery, albeit slowly, to reclaim a crucial resistance level.

Marked at $0.5847, this barrier has been unbreached for the last 14 days. Since the last ten days, this resistance level has remained unbreached, with only one instance of a successful breakout noted around the time when the spot Bitcoin ETF was approved, which pushed the altcoin beyond the $0.600 mark.

This barrier remained unbreached this time around as well, resulting in a dip below the uptrend line. Price indicators, Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) are also exhibiting slight bearishness at the time of writing. If this extends further, the altcoin could end up falling to $0.560.

XRP/USD 4-hour chart

However, if the broader market bullish cues have an impact on the altcoin, recovery is on the cards, and the uptrend will remain intact. This would also help in XRP price breaching the $0.587 resistance level, flipping which into support would help the altcoin cross $0.600.