XRP price has surged 17% in the last seven days and over 3% in the past 24 hours, reflecting strong recent performance. As the third-largest cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), XRP boasts a market capitalization nearing $185 billion.

Despite this growth, its trading volume has dropped 55% in the last 24 hours, now at $7.55 billion. This mixed activity highlights the importance of examining key indicators like RSI, whale movements, and EMA trends to assess the next potential price direction for XRP.

XRP RSI Has Been Neutral for 5 Days

XRP Relative Strength Index is currently at 52.3, holding a neutral stance since January 17, five days ago. For the past two days, the RSI has remained close to the 50 level, suggesting a balanced market with no strong buying or selling pressure.

This neutral reading implies XRP price is in a consolidation phase, where the price is neither trending upward nor downward significantly, awaiting potential catalysts to define its next move.

The RSI is a widely used momentum indicator that evaluates the strength and speed of price changes on a scale from 0 to 100. An RSI below 30 signals oversold conditions, potentially indicating a price rebound, while an RSI above 70 suggests overbought levels and possible downward corrections.

With XRP’s RSI sitting at 52.3, the sentiment is neutral, showing no signs of excessive bullish or bearish activity. If the RSI begins to rise above 60 or drop below 40, it could indicate that momentum is shifting, potentially signaling the start of a new trend for XRP.

XRP Whales Are Reaching Its Highest Levels Ever

The number of XRP whales, defined as addresses holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP, has reached an all-time high of 2,083. This represents an important milestone in accumulation, as the count has been steadily rising since late December.

On December 21, there were 1,958 such addresses, highlighting a notable growth trend over the past month.

Tracking whale activity is crucial because these addresses often have the ability to influence market trends. Large accumulations by whales can indicate bullish sentiment, as their buying activity may reduce available supply and support price increases.

With the current whale count at its highest level ever, it suggests heightened interest and potential positioning ahead of a major market movement. If this trend continues, it could point to increasing demand and long-term confidence in XRP price.

XRP Price Prediction: Will It Correct by 26.8%?

XRP EMA lines remain bullish, with short-term lines positioned above long-term ones, signaling an overall upward trend. However, the lack of upward movement in recent days suggests a period of consolidation in the market.

This pause in momentum reflects a more balanced state, with neither buyers nor sellers currently dominating.

If XRP price can regain its uptrend, it may test the resistance at $3.40, a key level that could indicate renewed strength. Conversely, if the trend reverses, the price may first test the support at $2.82.

A break below this level could lead to further declines, with $2.60 and $2.32 as potential lower targets. Losing the $2.32 support would represent a significant 26.8% decrease.

In a bizarre development, an alleged kidnapping story of Ledger co-founder Eric Larchevêque is apparently a hoax. There is little information about Larchevêque‘s current whereabouts, but a “Justice for Eric” meme coin launched and crashed.

This strange episode took off like wildfire through crypto social media, but there was apparently not a scrap of proof.

Who Kidnapped Eric Larchevêque?

Ledger, a hardware wallet firm based in France, has experienced some difficulties recently. Its most recent major headlines were related to phishing scams targeting its users. However, today’s incident is far more dramatic.

According to local media, Ledger’s co-founder Eric Larchevêque was kidnapped. The report even alleged that the criminals demanded Bitcoin as a ransom.

This incident raises a lot of questions. For one, Larchevêque hasn’t been involved with Ledger since resigning in 2019. It appears that the kidnapping was staged, but this claim comes from an odd source.

Eventhough the rumor spread like a wildfire across social media, Larchevêque didn’t make any posts clarifying his current state. He’s a fairly active user on X (formerly Twitter), yet his last post was over 24 hours ago.

Instead, local crypto reporter Grégory Raymond stated that it was a hoax.

“We are able to assure that Eric Larchevêque (co-founder of Ledger) is not involved in the kidnapping rumor about him. Be careful with published information that could threaten an ongoing investigation in France and possibly someone else’s life,” Raymond claimed.

He added that “Eric is safe,” but was unable to communicate any other updates. This news did little to alleviate the community’s concerns and indeed only raised further questions.

If Larchevêque isn’t party to this kidnapping, then who is, and who would pretend to kidnap an ex-employee of Ledger?

The firm has been riddled with controversy over the last few years, but this incident takes the cake. Since Larchevêque and the original founders departed, Ledger’s new CEO received a lot of bad press over security concerns.

Also, back in 2023, the firm carried out massive layoffs. However, issues like this wouldn’t explain a fake kidnapping scandal.

Meanwhile, the story was viral enough for meme coin enthusiasts to jump in. An anonymous user launched a “Justice for Eric” meme coin on Solana, but its market cap cratered almost immediately.

Whoever launched it may be totally unrelated to the incident and only intending to do a quick rug pull. It still doesn’t answer any of the biggest lingering questions.

Ultimately, wherever Larchevêque is, or whatever reason Ledger’s name keeps coming up, this hoax highlights a growing issue in crypto. Several popular X accounts immediately began circulating this kidnapping story, even though there was no proof.

This entire episode may be more of a misunderstanding than a deliberate hoax, but it spread like wildfire all the same. The correct details of this story will only surface when Larchevêque gives an update on social media.

Lido founder Konstantin Lomashuk created a “Second Foundation” for Ethereum as the blockchain is going through leadership debacles.

The only material from this account remains vague, but a closer look at Lomashuk’s social media provides insight. In all likelihood, this Second Foundation will help promote decentralized ideals against the “bag-chasing” culture of modern crypto.

Lomashuk’s Goals For Second Foundation

Konstantin Lomashuk, founder of Lido and P2P.org, announced today on social media that he had created a “Second Foundation” for Ethereum.

This came after the Ethereum Foundation (EF) started undergoing a significant leadership transformation. Earlier today, veteran developer Eric Conner resigned from the project.

So far, Lomashuk’s intentions for this Second Foundation remain somewhat obscure. The actual announcement consisted of the phrase “hello world computer,” but the new account has no official description.

However, by looking at some of the material Lomachuk has been reposting lately, some insights into his thought process become clearer:

“The future of the world computer is decentralized. EF is only one part of the world computer. Perhaps the org that some people want to reform and bring back to new greater heights is actually not EF. The foundation should not ‘midcurve’, it should confidently represent the aspects of Ethereum that it can be effective at representing,” Vitalik Buterin said.

Also, Lomashuk said that comments about the growing scam culture in crypto “completely resonate” with him, providing insights into what he wants this Second Foundation to achieve.

For Lomashuk, this may be an opportune moment to divert his attention to the Second Foundation; Lido has been performing well lately.

“Vitalik, the best thing you could do right now imo is to spin out the R&D support functions from the EF into their own org and allow the existing Foundation to focus on ecosystem development and support this would be the best way to demonstrate a commitment towards decentralization,” a popular Ethereum investor wrote.

It’s evident that EF is experiencing a leadership crisis. At the same time, Ethereum has been plagued by declining demand, and EF is considering using staking to pay expenses. This would end a years-long taboo on taking a firm side in a future hard fork.

Ultimately, however, Lomashuk intends to proceed, the Second Foundation’s broad goals seem legible. Since the crypto market received massive cash flows and institutional acceptance last year, the space has transformed drastically.

Nonetheless, he expressed continued faith in the original vision of digital currency: a tool to build radically decentralized structures.