Ripple market update: Banco Santander’s slip of the tongue pushed XRP lower

• XRP/USD is under pressure under $0.31.
• Banco Santander users Ripple’s technology, but not XRP.

Ripple’s coin (XRP) is hovering below $0.31 handle amid growing bearish pressure. The digital asset has been moving within a narrowing range since the end of December with the sloping trendline serving as an effective barrier for XRP bulls.

What’s going on

Ripple has been growing its network of high-profile partnership deals with banks and financial institutions, offering them a fast and cheap solution of international payments.  

Banco Santander, one of the long-standing Ripple’s partners, is satisfied with the technology and the progress they have made so far with their  iPhone app One Pay FX based on xCurrent.

Interestingly, answering users questions in a Q&A session on Twitter, the bank’s representative said that they were using XRP for international payments to 18 EU countries and the USA. However, later they denied XRP usage:

“We are sorry, unfortunately due to a misunderstanding we have given incorrect information. We do apologise for the confusion this has caused. One Pay FX uses xCurrent only.”

Ripple’s technical picture

XRP/USD needs to clear psychological $0.3100 to improve the short-term technical picture. However, the key barrier is $0.3140-50, created by a confluence of SMA50, SMA100 (4-hour) and an above-mentioned downside trendline. A sustainable move higher will attract new buyers with the next focus on $0.3200.

On the downside, $0.3000 is the key support that has been holding bears back for some time now. Once cleared, the sell-off will gain traction. The next downside target is $0.2900, strengthened by the lower boundary of a long-term triangle.

XRP/USD, 4-hour chart