Ripple released its latest report on XRP sales to institutional investors and partners. The results, however, were bitter: institutional sales dropped by 53%, while total sales (including programmatic sales) plunged 73%. After the company normalized the reported figures in the report, Ripple posted its weakest numbers since the third quarter of 2017. Despite this, bullish traders have largely ignored the data and the XRP price has hovered around $0.30 for roughly a week. Are bullish prospects still plausible despite the weak numbers? Discover more from the report and our XRP technical analysis below.
Third Quarter: Declining Sales, FUD, and Strategic Partnerships
After a positive set of results in the second quarter, Ripple reported disappointing global sales figures this quarter. Unlike many other projects in the crypto space, Ripple operates within a corporate structure that places heavy emphasis on partnerships with financial institutions and payment platforms. Ripple provides products and solutions aimed at cross-border transactions between banks and payment processors. Its cryptocurrency, XRP, is a key component in products such as xRapid and XPring. As with many U.S. companies, Ripple issues quarterly reports detailing how much XRP its partners have acquired for use in these solutions.
This quarter turned out to be Ripple’s weakest since the same period in 2017, when reports were published in a different format. In the report published this Friday on Ripple’s official website, the company highlighted its voluntary transparency in reporting key figures to its stakeholders. Ripple also emphasized that it has started to normalize results by using more conservative volume measures than some third-party references. The steepest decline came from programmatic sales, which fell by more than 88%. Programmatic sales occur on exchanges and are targeted at clients executing passive strategies. There is, however, at least one reason for this decline:
“In fact, in mid‑Q3, we decided to pause programmatic sales entirely and focus on OTC sales with certain strategic partners who are building utility for XRP and liquidity in regions that are strategically important to our global business.”
FUD: Ripple Explores Two Theories About the Psychology of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt
FUD—fear, uncertainty, and doubt—is common jargon in crypto and finance. The report discusses allegations of “dumping,” a FUD narrative that gained traction during the quarter. Ripple suggests a theory involving coordinated bot activity designed to “pump and dump,” which pushed XRP prices down. The company asserts that many large transactions visible on the blockchain were simply internal transfers between Ripple’s treasury and its corporate custody accounts.
Regarding price manipulation, Ripple states it is “unable to control” the market price. The report also highlights significant investments in initiatives like XPring, which continues to grow through investments such as Coinme and strategic acquisitions like the Irish company Algrim.
Technical Analysis of Ripple: The Magnetic Zone Pulls XRP Back to a Safer Range
After reaching lows earlier in the year, bullish traders began buying Ripple, helping the asset regain key levels before another downward swing. As noted in our most recent technical review of XRP, the price appeared likely to return to what has long been called the “magnetic zone.” Despite the discouraging report published on Friday, the asset is beginning to confirm support in that zone. Will it push higher? The daily technical setup shows several notable elements:
- Ripple has re-entered a comfortable consolidation zone after nearly a month of gains. This area lies roughly between $0.29 and $0.33, with the lower bound serving as an important support to sustain this scenario.
- The next significant support could be the 100‑day moving average, a level that has already been overcome and retested. As it operates as support, bulls have defended it convincingly on daily candles.
- A bullish TK cross in the Ichimoku cloud is visible on the daily chart, which may hint at a renewed uptrend—albeit a modest one, since it occurs below the Kumo.
- On the upside, Ripple faces a psychological resistance near $0.30 and a more substantial hurdle at the 200‑day moving average. Above that lies the upper limit of the magnetic zone and a stronger resistance around $0.373.
- RSI does not show overbought conditions and still allows room for a meaningful price impulse before reaching overheated levels.