XRP Is Nearing a Golden Cross at $1.43. The Last One Preceded a Rally From $2.20 to $3.60.

XRP surged nearly 70% in four days during August, and its moving averages are now creeping toward a pattern that preceded one of its biggest rallies of 2025. Whether that setup plays out again depends on a narrow technical threshold…

Published September 9, 2026, 12:31pm ET · 4 min read

A close-up shot of a shiny golden XRP cryptocurrency coin with the Ripple logo and 'XRP' text, resting on a dark reflective surface. In the background, a digital candlestick chart with green and red bars and purple lines indicates market trends on a dark blue screen.
An XRP cryptocurrency coin stands against a backdrop of a vibrant market chart, reflecting the ongoing shifts and potential turning points in its value, as seen on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. © Maryshot / Shutterstock.com

XRP’s (CRYPTO:XRP) recent price action has put the token in a technically stronger position, with the August recovery pushing it above both major moving averages. That recovery has not yet developed into a confirmed trend reversal, and the current setup could still remain a short-term rebound without a golden cross.

The setup is still worth watching, however, as XRP has staged a strong recovery from its August low. The token traded at $1.00 on August 18 before climbing to an intraday high of $1.6996 on August 22, a gain of nearly 70% from the August 18 close to the August 22 high. XRP has since given back some of those gains, but the rebound has lifted its price above both moving averages.

What XRP’s Moving Averages Show

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XRP’s moving averages are built from closing prices over a fixed number of previous sessions. The 50-day SMA reflects XRP’s latest 50 daily closes, while the 200-day SMA covers a much longer period.

The current positioning creates an important distinction between price momentum and trend confirmation. XRP is already trading above both moving averages, which shows that recent buying strength has been strong enough to lift the price above its established averages, but the averages themselves are still arranged with the 50-day below the 200-day.

At around $1.42, XRP is approximately 18.5% above its 50-day SMA and 12.0% above its 200-day SMA, showing how far the price has moved ahead of the underlying averages. A golden cross would require the averages themselves to reverse their current order, making the relationship between the two indicators more important than the price simply remaining above them.

XRP’s August Surge Reset the Short-Term Price Trend

XRP’s August recovery marked a significant shift in its short-term price action, with the token climbing from around $1.00 on August 18 to $1.10 on August 19, $1.27 on August 20, and $1.45 on August 21, before reaching an intraday high of $1.6990 on August 22 and closing the day at approximately $1.46.

XRP has cooled since then, although it has largely held above the levels reached during the initial recovery, closing at $1.4516 on September 3, falling to $1.3987 on September 4, and finishing at $1.4172 on September 8. XRP is trading at around $1.42 on September 9, suggesting that the token has consolidated around the $1.40 area following its sharp advance in August.

What XRP’s 2025 Golden Cross Tells Us

Ripple (XRP) and cryptocurrency investing concept - Physical metal Ripple coins with global trading exchange market price chart in the background.

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XRP closed at around $2.1865 on June 28, 2025, before reaching an all-time high of $3.6662 on July 18, representing a gain of approximately 67.7% between the two levels. During this period, the 50-day moving average was approaching and subsequently moving above the 200-day average, placing the golden cross within the broader upward move rather than before it as a clear trigger for the rally from around $2.20 to $3.60.

The more relevant takeaway is that XRP was already showing strong upward momentum as its major moving averages converged. While the golden cross confirmed that the underlying trend was strengthening, the 2025 price action does not establish that the crossover itself caused the rally, meaning the signal is better viewed as confirmation of momentum that was already developing.

XRP Remains Below Its 2026 Opening Price

A close-up shot of a two-toned gold and silver Ripple (XRP) cryptocurrency coin placed on a dark smartphone screen. The screen displays a financial candlestick chart with green and red bars indicating price movements, along with numerical values like 0.195 and 0.1971. The coin features a detailed circuit board pattern on its surface and the distinctive XRP logo in the center.

DUSAN ZIDAR / Shutterstock.com

XRP began 2026 at roughly $1.88 and is currently trading near $1.42, leaving the cryptocurrency about 24.5% below its opening price for the year. Returning to $1.88 from its current level would require a gain of approximately 32%, showing that the August recovery, while significant, has not yet reversed XRP’s broader decline in 2026.

This creates a clear gap between XRP’s recent momentum and its overall performance for the year. The short-term trend has strengthened considerably since August, but the broader market structure remains less convincing, with the 50-day SMA still below the 200-day SMA and XRP yet to reclaim its 2026 opening level.

What Would Confirm a Golden Cross on the XRP Chart?

Two golden Ripple XRP crypto coins with Cryptocurrency Financial Charts and Graphs

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XRP’s next moves will show if the recent recovery is strong enough to change the moving-average structure. If XRP continues to hold its gains, the 50-day SMA will have more time to rise towards the 200-day SMA, while a sustained move lower could widen the gap and delay the crossover.

However, a renewed decline in XRP price could delay the move towards a golden cross, particularly if the token falls below the $1.35 short-term support level. A daily close below this area could expose XRP to lower levels around $1.33 and $1.28, while also weakening the recent recovery and making it harder for the 50-day SMA to close the gap with the 200-day SMA.

Does the Current Setup Point to Another 2025 Rally?

XRP has room for further upside under the current setup, but the price has not yet shown enough evidence to suggest it is about to repeat its 2025 rally. The recent recovery has improved the short-term structure, but the longer-term trend still needs confirmation before the bullish case becomes materially stronger.

For traders watching the golden-cross setup, the most important development will be whether the 50-day SMA can continue rising towards and eventually above the 200-day SMA without XRP losing the support established during its August recovery. Until that happens, the current move is better viewed as a strong recovery with the potential to develop into a larger trend change, rather than as a confirmed repeat of 2025.

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Sam Daodu

Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable—no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more—basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing

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