XRP remains trapped in a tightening consolidation zone, showing few signs of decisive momentum despite Bitcoin’s strength.

While many altcoins have started to break key levels, XRP continues to respect its long-standing compression patterns against both the dollar and Bitcoin.

Technical Analysis

The USDT Pair

On the USDT pair, XRP has been locked within a descending channel since the start of the year. After getting rejected near the $2.40 level just below the higher trendline, the asset has slid back into the mid-zone of the pattern and is currently holding just above $2.10. Despite the lack of directional breakout, there’s visible structure in this range.

The 200-day moving average continues to offer dynamic support around $2.10, while the 100-day moving average is closing in on it from above. If the price manages to hold the 2.00–2.10 support and break above the channel’s upper boundary near $2.5, the next major level to watch would be the $2.80 region, followed by the $3.00–$3.30 zone.

The BTC Pair

The BTC pair tells a similar story. XRP/BTC has been sliding inside a falling wedge for over two months, forming lower highs and lower lows within the structure. However, Ripple’s token is now trading right on top of a major confluence level around 2200 SAT.

This level has been held multiple times and coincides with the 200-day moving average. The wedge pattern typically resolves to the upside, but XRP still needs to break out and reclaim 2400–2450 SAT to generate any bullish momentum. Until then, the downtrend structure remains intact.

The Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem seems to have received an injection of optimism, with on-chain data showing an interesting trend: long-term holders are doubling down on their positions, unfazed by recent price volatility.

A new report from CryptoQuant shows that accumulating addresses, those that consistently receive ETH without making any major sales, have increased their holdings by more than 22% in less than two months, a sign that there is a renewed wave of “structural conviction” among investors.

A Closer Look at Holder Behavior

According to analysis by CryptoQuant’s Carmelo Alemán, since a cycle high of $4,107 attained on December 16 last year, the price of ETH has endured a sustained correction. The bearish run finally put long-term holders into “unrealized loss territory” as the cryptocurrency’s value hit $1,866, nearly 8% below the Realized Price of $2,026.

Experts describe Realized Price as the average price at which all coins in circulation were last transacted on-chain, and it is used to provide insight into the historical cost basis of investors.

Since March 10, the volume of ETH held by accumulating addresses has grown from 15.53 million to 19.03 million tokens. Investors seized the opportunity occasioned by falling prices to buy more, driving down their collective realized price to $1,980 by May 3. This effectively signaled a doubling down on their belief that the cryptocurrency is getting ready for a price breakout.

“ETH investors demonstrate strong belief in the asset, project, and ecosystem,” wrote Alemán. “Their On-Chain behavior reflects structural conviction and clear expectations of short-term appreciation.”

Mixed Performance Despite Bullish Undertones

The timing of this renewed bullishness appears to match technical signals and community sentiment captured across social media. Popular crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe recently noted that Ethereum’s price chart is forming a textbook falling wedge, often viewed as a precursor to bullish breakouts.

“ETH is consolidating before a big breakout upwards,” he stated, pointing to converging trend lines and declining trade volumes as signs of brewing volatility. “The liquidity is up for grabs, it just needs a news-related item to kick it off.”

Furthermore, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has surged 10% in the last fortnight, bringing the asset back above the $1,800 level. Still, despite the green shoot, its performance in the last year remains underwhelming, with its price down more than 42% in that period.

Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin, announced on May 5 that his firm will soon launch an open-source AI runtime solution.

He reaffirmed Tether’s ambitions to become a global name in the growing artificial intelligence industry.

His tweet reads that the upcoming solution will not need API keys as it won’t have a central point of failure. It will be a “fully open-source AI runtime, capable to adapt and evolve on any hardware and device.”

https://t.co/qQkox6AfNg coming soon pic.twitter.com/1FZonsW5nq

— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) May 5, 2025

It will also integrate Tether’s Wallet Development Kit (WDK) to support payments using the company’s native and largest stablecoin (USDT) as well as Bitcoin (BTC).

In a separate post, Ardoino explained that Tether AI will have only one goal – to be the ideal technological foundation to achieve the vision of AI described in Isaac Asimov’s science fiction books. He believes the technology will become a “part of the very fabric of the universe” in the following decades.

As such, Tether is developing its own version, which will be “open-source, transparent, scalable, and able to adapt and evolve on any device regardless of the hardware” behind it.

The company has already made a few AI-related moves in the past year or so, including unveiling another platform called Tether Data.

It has also become a major player in the Bitcoin landscape. Not only does it continue to accumulate BTC frequently, but it has also gone deeper into the mining industry.