XRP, the token closely related to Ripple Labs, is showing signs of a potential breakout as its price chart forms a symmetrical triangle pattern alongside other bullish technical indicators.

XRP has been consolidating within the pattern shown below, characterized by two converging trend lines that suggest a buildup of momentum. Technical analysis from well-followed X user @DefendDark indicates that a breakout from this formation could propel XRP toward a short-term target of $6.

The symmetrical triangle has been forming over recent weeks, with XRP’s price action tightening as it approaches the apex of the triangle. This setup, commonly observed in crypto markets, often precedes a sharp move — either upward or downward — depending on the direction of the breakout.

Fibonacci retracement analysis further supports this outlook, identifying $2.04 as a key support level and $2.2 as a critical resistance. A break above $2.2 could confirm the bullish trend, potentially driving XRP toward the $5 to $8 range in the mid term, per @DarkDefend.

The Elliott Wave framework forecasts price movements in five distinct “waves” based on repeating price patterns, called «waves.» The five-wave pattern reflects growing optimism, while the three-wave correction shows profit-taking or pessimism. These waves are driven by collective investor psychology and can occur across different timeframes and are considered by followers to be a way to map market behavior.

As such, a bullish technical outlook coincides with growing optimism in the crypto market, driven in part by regulatory developments. The U.S. House will hold a crypto hearing on April 9, termed “The Future of American Innovation and Digital Assets: Adjusting U.S. Securities Law for the Digital Age,” with plans to develop a regulatory framework for digital assets.

That could boost eyes on tokens perceived to be close to the U.S. government, such as XRP and Cardano’s ADA, which were named as part of potential crypto stockpile by President Donald Trump earlier in January.

The Bitcoin-Japanese yen (BTC/JPY) pair faced a setback at key trendline resistance Wednesday, as Goldman Sachs (GS) cited the anti-risk yen as the leading hedge against rising U.S. tariff and recession risks.

The BTC/JPY trading on the Japan-based bitFlyer fell 1% after failing to take out the trendline drawn off the record high reached on Jan. 20, data from charting platform TradingView show.

BTC’s USD-denominated price faced similar losses. Meanwhile, Asian equity indices and the U.S. equity futures treaded water ahead of President Donald Trump’s sweeping new “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday that could trigger a global trade war.

The tariff uncertainty has spurred several investment banks, including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, pencil in a higher chance of U.S. recession or consecutive quarterly contractions in the growth rate.

Some crypto observers expect investors to treat bitcoin (BTC) as a haven asset should a tariff-led economic swoon materialize. Goldman, however, sees the Japanese yen, a long-preferred safe haven, as the top hedge against U.S. risks.

«The yen offers investors the best currency hedge should the chances of a US recession increase,» Kamakshya Trivedi, head of global foreign exchange, interest rates and emerging market strategy at Goldman Sachs, said late Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.

Trivedi added that the yen is also a «very good hedge» against U.S. labor market weakness and tends to do best when U.S. real rates [inflation-adjusted yields] and U.S. equities fall together.

While BTC is widely seen as a digital gold or haven asset by crypto market participants, the cryptocurrency has historically moved in tandem with technology stocks. In other words, tariffs-led risk-off on Wall Street could spill over into the crypto market.

Additionally, the yen’s strength could prompt the unwinding of risk-on bullish trades financed by inexpensive yen-denominated loans, contributing to overall risk aversion in financial markets. The crypto market experienced this in early August last year when the yen carry trade unravelled, leading to declines in both stocks and BTC. During that period, bitcoin plummeted from approximately $65K to $50K within a week.

Goldman expects the Japanese yen to rise to the low 140s against the U.S. dollar this year. The USD/JPY pair traded at 149.77 at press time. The exchange rate is known to closely track the differential between yields on the 10-year U.S. and Japanese bonds.

The latter recently dropped to its lowest since August 2022, offering yen-bullish cues.

Crypto enthusiasts might have heard of the ERC-20 token standard, which provides guidelines to ensure that tokens created on the Ethereum smart contract blockchain are compatible and can interact with other tokens and applications within the network.

A similar standard for data-backed tokens, called VRC-20, has now emerged.

Vana, an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain that helps users monetize personal data by bundling it into DataDAOs for AI model training, introduced the new standard early this week to boost trust and transparency in the market for data-backed digital assets.

«For data markets to work, tokens must be reliable, secure, and useful. As a universal standard for data-backed tokens, VRC-20 delivers this by ensuring fair and transparent data token trading,» Vana announced on X.

The VRC-20 standard design includes specific criteria such as fixed supply, governance, and liquidity rules while ensuring real data access by tying tokens to actual data utility. Additionally, it promotes continuous liquidity through rewards that ensure market stability.

«This isn’t speculation. This is real financialization of data,» Vana noted.

Vana launched its mainnet in December, with VANA as its native cryptocurrency. Since then, the network has onboarded over 12 million data points through multiple DataDAOs, reflecting strong demand for user-owned data.

DataDAOs or data liquidity pools are decentralized marketplaces that bring data onchain as transferable digital tokens. DLPs are where data is contributed, tokenized and made ready for use in applications such as AI model training.

Monday’s announcement replaced VANA emissions as DataDAO inventive with a new feature that calls for DAOs to issue VRC-20-compliant tokens to receive liquidity support.

Additionally, the protocol introduced data validator staking, where VANA holders can lock their coins in data validators instead of individual DataDAOs.

«Rewards are based on network security and usage. Stakers earn proportionally to their contribution to network uptime and data availability. No more idle staking. Earnings are tied to real network utility and reliability,» Vana said.

The VANA token changed hands at $5.58 at press time, the lowest in over two weeks, extending the decline from the recent price high of $8.78 on Binance, according to data source TradingView.