Ripple’s CEO bashes BTC and ETH, XRP/USD stays directionless below $0.2400;

• XRP/USD needs to move above $0.2400 to continue the recovery.
• Brad Garlinghouse says Bitcoin and Ethereum mining consumes too much energy.

XRP/USD has been locked in a tight range since the end of February. The price tested the recent low of $0.2245 on February 27 and recovered to the area above $0.2300. At the time of writing, XRP/USD is changing hands at $0.2360, has stayed mostly unchanged on a day-to-day basis and gained over 1% since the beginning of Wednesday. Despite the short-term bullish bias, the coin lacks momentum to break above $0.2400 and extend the recovery towards the next target of $0.2500 and $0.2590 (SMA100 4-hour, SMA50 daily).

Ripple’s XRP has a market value of $10.3 billion and an average daily trading volume of $2.5 billion, which is in line with the recent figures.

XRP/USD: Technical picture

On a daily chart, XRP/USD is supported by DMA100 at $0.2330. This technical level separates the price from psychological $0.2300 and the recent low of $0.2245. This area is likely to slow down the sell-off and create a pre-condition for a rebound due to a cluster of protective orders placed around that barrier. However, once it is out of the way, the sell-off is likely to gain traction with the next focus on $0.2050 (the lower line of the daily Bollinger Band).

On the upside, a sustainable move above $0.2590 and $0.2600 will become a catalyst for a strong upside move towards $0.2770 (the broken neckline of a head-and-shoulder pattern). The ultimate longer=term resistance is created by SMA50 weekly above $0.2900. 

XRP/USD daily chart

Brad Garlinghouse says Bitcoin is eco-unfriendly

Notably, the CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse recently critisized Bitcoin and Ethereum for being eco-unfriendly. He explained that BTC and ETH mining were energy-intensive, while miners had no incentive to reduce the carbon footprint.

Energy consumption for BTC and ETH mining is a massive waste and there’s no incentive to take responsibility for the carbon footprint. Absolutely Взрыв мозга that this isn’t high on the agenda for the growing climate crisis, he wrote in a recent tweet. 

However, Bitcoin supporters answered him that XRP is a more waste as it is less efficient than BTC.