- XRP drops to $2.70 as whales and institutions drive heavy selling
- Ripple’s technological progress contrasts with near-term downward pressure
- Fed caution and higher yields have undermined crypto market confidence
Last week brought turbulence for XRP as the token struggled to defend key levels amid a broader weakening crypto market.
Once considered one of the strongest performers heading into 2025, XRP now faces renewed pressure. The recent decline has traders and investors debating whether this is a temporary setback or the start of a deeper sell-off.
Downward pressure mounts below $3
XRP failed to hold above the $3.00 mark, a psychological threshold traders had hoped would spark further upside.
Widespread market liquidations, combined with profit-taking near resistance, pushed the token down into the $2.80 range.
Prices slipped further, reaching a recent low of $2.75 after a one-day drop of roughly 6%. That move coincided with Bitcoin falling below $109,000, which triggered a chain reaction across altcoins and contributed to Ethereum’s roughly 8% decline to about $3,800.
Institutions and whales tipping the scales
Behind the price pullback was a wave of institutional selling and large whale movements that rattled market sentiment.
Roughly $277 million worth of XRP changed hands in a short window, with reports indicating whales moved nearly 160 million tokens — worth close to half a billion dollars — in mid-September.
Those transfers intensified selling pressure, eroding about $19 billion of XRP market capitalization within a week and undermining the momentum that had pushed prices above $3 earlier in the month.
Economic headwinds add strain
XRP’s challenges are not purely internal. Broader economic factors are also weighing on the token.
Comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell emphasizing persistent inflation risks and the unlikelihood of substantial rate cuts have made investors more cautious.
Rising government bond yields have diverted attention away from risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. Against this backdrop, promising developments within the Ripple ecosystem have struggled to translate into price gains.
Ripple continues to advance multiple initiatives, such as the rollout of the RLUSD stablecoin, integration of an Ethereum-compatible sidechain, and steady growth of wallets on the XRP Ledger, which now exceed seven million.
While these developments strengthen the network’s fundamentals, they have not fully offset the widespread bearish sentiment across markets.
Watch the $2.70 support level
For now, traders will be watching whether XRP can hold above roughly $2.75, with $2.70 acting as the next crucial support level.
From a technical perspective, the token is trading below its 30-day moving average of $2.93, signaling continued seller control.
The relative strength index (RSI) has fallen below 38, approaching oversold territory.
MACD has also turned bearish, extending downside momentum.
A deeper decline could result in further losses, while a rebound from current levels would signal selling fatigue and open the door to a short-term recovery.
Near-term direction is likely to track Bitcoin’s performance, especially given approximately $23 billion in options set to expire, a factor that could amplify volatility across the crypto sector.
If Bitcoin stabilizes, XRP may find room to climb back above $3 and regain some momentum. If not, a move toward $2.70 — and potentially lower — remains a clear possibility.