XRP Leads Gains in Major Cryptos, Bitcoin Holds Above $42K

The crypto market extended its recovery during morning hours in Europe following a weekend bounce, with major cryptocurrencies rising over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin and ether, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, advanced 3%. Some analysts said Friday's release of stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data buoyed investor sentiment, which supported an increase in the price of bitcoin.

“Despite U.S. jobs data on Friday being better than expected, global markets responded positively to the news, as investors admire the strength of the labor market,” Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at cryptocurrency brokerage GlobalBlock, said in an email to CoinDesk.

“This positive reaction ignited a bounce for the crypto markets too. Bitcoin broke out of two similar downtrends on the RSI within the past year, which both resulted in incredible rallies, hence potentially foreshadowing a Bitcoin rally to the upside,” Sotiriou said. The relative strength index (RSI) is an indicator that measures the magnitude of price changes over a certain time period. RSI readings above 70 are considered overbought, and those below 30 indicate an asset may be oversold.

The RSI level on bitcoin reached 61 during European trading hours on Monday after a jump from an "oversold" level of 20 in January, when the cryptocurrency traded at $35,550. Bitcoin was trading above $42,500 at the time of publication, with possible resistance at $46,000.

Some traders expect bitcoin to see more interest from investors even as the U.S. Federal Reserve tightens its monetary policy.

“It is worth noting that the Nonfarm Payrolls can force the Fed to move faster to tighten monetary policy,” Alex Kuptsikevich, a senior financial analyst at FxPro, wrote in an email to CoinDesk. “If cryptocurrencies manage to resist and continue to grow, this will be a serious trend reversal order. Just like on Friday, when investors decided to buy BTC in order to protect investments from inflation.”

Elsewhere, gains in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ranged from a low of 1.6% for Terra’s LUNA to as high as 9.9% for XRP.

Meme coins led market moves outside of the top 10. Shiba Inu’s SHIB tokens surged to $0.000029 during Asian trading hours from the $0.000022 level on Sunday evening, as reported.

XRP leads crypto gains

Ripple's XRP token led gains among major cryptocurrencies with a 16% increase to over $0.77. The price surged amid positive sentiment around the court case in which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleges the blockchain-based payments firm sold XRP as an unregistered security to the public.

In the latest proceedings last week, New York Southern District Court Judge Analisa Torres ordered the unsealing of three documents in connection with the case.

Torres also granted the payment giant's request to file a response to the motion to strike fair notice defense. That defense focuses on whether Ripple had reasonable notice from the SEC about whether XRP sales were illegal, according to law firm Hogan & Hogan.

Some industry attorneys said the proceedings suggested the case could be headed for a verdict soon. XRP added $0.07 on Friday, holding the $0.66 level over the weekend before Monday’s surge to $0.78. XRP has slightly broken above resistance and could rise to $0.79 if the current trend continues.