Although there are tens of thousands of cryptocurrencies, the top few like Bitcoin (BTC 0.98%) tend to receive most of the attention from Wall Street analysts. That's understandable, of course, because cryptocurrencies don't generate cash flows or earnings, so they are tough to analyze and extremely volatile. However, as the industry continues gaining steam and attention on Wall Street, analysts are looking closer and seeing if there are trends or past data they can use to extrapolate price targets. Recently, the nearly 50-year commodities and chart trader Peter Brandt has begun posting on X about the charts of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Wall Street veteran thinks one cryptocurrency could soar roughly 275% over the next six weeks.

A half-mast flag pattern forming

Brandt began his career as a commodity trader in 1976 and founded Factor Trading in 1980, focusing on classical charting, risk management, the trading process, and managing human capital. Brandt has also written numerous books on chart trading.

Chart trading is a different way to evaluate stocks. Most analysts look at a company's fundamental business and try to determine how much the company can generate and then grow earnings. They then assign a valuation multiple to describe how much they think investors will pay for a business and the earnings or dividends that the business generates. Charting involves looking for patterns on a stock chart to predict what might happen next to a stock's price. Like anything else in investing, there's controversy over how effective charting is, although plenty of traders have made lots of money off chart trading and Brandt is considered one of the best in the business.

Brandt's posts on X have ventured into the crypto world. Not only is Brandt discussing Bitcoin, but he's also talked about XRP (XRP 2.98%), currently the fourth-largest cryptocurrency in the world with a market cap of over $132 billion. Brandt recently mused on XRP and some of the patterns he's seeing.

When Brandt says half-mast flag, he means a chart pattern in which the stock price, or in this case the price of an asset, moves upward quickly, and then consolidates briefly before moving higher again. This signals the continuation of a bullish pattern. If the half-mast flag does form, Brandt said he could see the price of XRP moving to a $500 billion market cap, suggesting 275% upside (as of Jan. 9).

Charting may be one of the few ways to analyze crypto

I don't do charting myself, but the method can be used for crypto in the same way it can for stocks, which is more than you can say about fundamental analysis because again cryptocurrencies don't have earnings or cash flows. Brandt has proven to be one of the best traders for decades, so his comments should not be taken lightly.

That said, and as Brandt acknowledged, charting patterns can change so I'd caution investors from investing too heavily into XRP, especially if they've never done any charting before.

XRP has potential for several reasons including regulatory tailwinds and a strong technical network, which is proving very effective at conducting cross-border payments. However, most tokens are heavily dictated by Bitcoin and the winds of the crypto market. Under a sustaining crypto bull market, I expect XRP to perform well and better than Bitcoin. However, when Bitcoin struggles I'd expect XRP to underperform. I'd recommend a smaller, more speculative position in XRP right now.