XRP price loses uptrend as investor participation averages at a monthly low

• XRP price has fallen by more than 10% in the past week, slipping below the $0.500 mark.
• Ripple is initiating the search for a new CFO after Kristina Campbell, the former executive, quit earlier this week.
• Ripple proponent John Deaton believes that a new legislation would not arrive until 2025.

XRP price is noting a dip with the past week, invalidating a key support level for the altcoin. While broader market cues have been leading the cryptocurrency into a decline, the lack of participation from investors has also become a major contributing factor.

New Ripple CFO on the way

Ripple reportedly lost its CFO, Kristina Campbell, this week after the former executive resigned from her post. The executive was part of the company during the investigation and court proceedings pursued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the past years and even when Ripple partially won the lawsuit in May and won Judge Torres' ruling again last month, denying an appeal.

While no clear reason was mentioned by Campbell regarding her exit, according to a Fox Business reporter, Ripple has released a statement addressing this, saying,

"We're grateful for Kristina's leadership over the past 2+ years and her contributions to the company as we've experienced strong global momentum, business growth and navigated regulatory headwinds. We wish her all the best in her next chapter. Ripple remains in strong financial standing and is laser-focused on its continued success in key markets around the world."

The company is also reportedly on the hunt for a new CFO.

Ripple needs its investors' support

XRP price has not only been on a downtrend, but it has also been witnessing a rather slow recovery. Throughout the second half of September, the altcoin only recovered its losses by 13.7%, which has nearly been invalidated in the past week when the cryptocurrency fell by 10.7%.

One of the reasons for this lack of quick recovery goes back to the investors. Participation plays a crucial role in maintaining liquidity, which basically means that the buy and sell orders remain high. This improves the probability of demand, and consequently, the price of the token increases, too.

In the case of Ripple, though, addresses conducting transactions on the chain have been ranging under 20,000 on average, with the past week noting around 12,400 active addresses.

Ripple active addresses

Thus, as long as these active addresses remain at a low, XRP price would find difficulty in charting a recovery.

XRP price decline continues

XRP price, trading at $0.483 at the time of writing, has inched closer to testing the support line marked at $0.476. The altcoin was in an uptrend up until a week ago but has declined by more than 10.7% since then. In doing so, not only did the cryptocurrency lose the uptrend but also the psychological support of $0.500. 

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is deep into the bearish zone, sitting below the neutral line at 50.0. The indicator suggests that the bearish momentum is building up, which could induce selling amongst investors. This would result in a further decline in price.

For now, sustaining the $0.476 support line is crucial as losing it would result in the XRP price falling to a three-month low of $0.450, last visited by Ripple in July.

XRP/USD 1-day chart

However, the Ripple community has always been a strong catalyst when it comes to price action. Thus, if the cryptocurrency finds support from the community, it would be able to recover and reclaim the $0.505 line as support. This would invalidate the bearish thesis and set the XRP price up for further recovery.