On August 21, the price of XRP surged beyond $1.40, driven by optimism surrounding regulatory developments, whale investments, and forced liquidations that lifted the token from its recent support level of $1.00.
Summary
- XRP’s value increased by approximately 20% in a 24-hour span, reaching a high of $1.43.
- More than 300 million XRP were acquired by whales over a period of 96 hours, as reported by Ali Charts.
- The daily Supertrend indicator flipped bullish at $1.14 with the Chaikin Money Flow rising to 0.17.
- Liquidation data indicates significant leveraged positions are concentrated between $1.43 and $1.48.
Current XRP Price Movement
As reported by crypto.news, at the time of writing, XRP (XRP) was trading around $1.39 after hitting a peak of $1.43. The token experienced a gain of about 20% over the last 24 hours, with a daily candle rising 9.5% from its opening value of $1.27.
This movement represented a significant turnaround from the drop that had seen XRP dip to around $0.99 earlier in the week. Initially, buyers recaptured the $1.10 level before pushing through resistance in the $1.18 to $1.26 range.
Breaking through that range accelerated the upward trend, as XRP had been trading below it since its sell-off in June. The token also surpassed the swing highs from May and July, ending a sequence of declining peaks marked on the daily chart.
The 4-hour chart indicated that XRP spiked to $1.43 before retracing to around $1.31 and then bouncing back. Buyers managed to defend this dip, facilitating a return to the upper $1.30 territory.
Momentum has intensified with the price increase. The 4-hour Awesome Oscillator reached 0.2332, marking its highest level on the chart, showcasing robust short-term buying pressure against recent price trends.
Factors Fueling XRP’s Surge
The revival followed a meeting on August 19, where President Donald Trump met with notable figures in the crypto industry, including Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Trump urged Congress to support what he deemed as a “fair version” of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
This proposed legislation aims to create a federal regulatory framework for digital assets, dividing oversight responsibilities between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. However, its passage is uncertain, as Senate Republicans would require Democratic support to achieve the 60 votes necessary.
XRP may be especially impacted by this discussion since Ripple has spent years contesting the SEC’s allegations regarding its token sales. A clearer regulatory framework could lessen the ambiguity facing U.S. exchanges and entities involved with digital assets, though Trump’s remarks do not assure the bill’s approval in Congress.
Wider liquidity conditions also bolstered the crypto market. The U.S. Treasury announced it would raise the maximum size of planned buybacks for specific long-term government bonds from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. This announcement initially affected long-term yields and the dollar negatively, helping to draw demand toward higher-risk assets, although Treasury yields did recover later.
Additionally, XRP-specific buying contributed to the rally. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez, known as Ali Charts, reported that whale wallets acquired over 300 million XRP in just 96 hours. His analysis indicated that their total holdings increased from approximately 16 billion to nearly 16.3 billion tokens.
Moreover, Ripple, Clearpool, and Cicada Partners announced their plans to create an institutional lending market on the XRP Ledger, utilizing the RLUSD stablecoin alongside XRPL’s upcoming lending and single-asset vault features.
This credit platform is still in the development phase and is reliant on forthcoming XRPL amendments, so it should be viewed more as a potential future catalyst rather than an active lending volume.
Bullish Indicators for XRP
The daily chart showed a bullish Supertrend reversal once XRP crossed $1.14, after having displayed a bearish trend during most of the token’s decline since it was above $2.00 in January.
The Chaikin Money Flow for XRP also surged to 0.17, indicating that buying volume is surpassing selling volume, thereby supporting the price breakout with increased capital inflows.
On the 4-hour chart, XRP is trading well above its key moving averages. The 20-period simple moving average has climbed to $1.12, while the 50, 100, and 200-period averages range from $1.04 to $1.07.
The substantial gap between the current price and these averages confirms the strength of the breakout but also raises the potential for short-term volatility. A swift price increase can lead to limited support just below the current price if buyers begin to realize profits.
The first support zone lies between $1.34 and $1.35, where XRP consolidated post-initial surge. A more extensive pullback could challenge $1.26, the upper limit of the earlier resistance range.
The daily Supertrend level around $1.14 signifies the overarching bullish invalidation threshold. Falling below this level would send XRP back under its breakout structure and elevate the risk of a downturn toward clustered moving averages around $1.04–$1.07.
Liquidation Insights Point Toward $1.48
According to CoinGlass’s three-day XRP liquidation heatmap, the price advanced through several clusters of short liquidations between $1.10 and $1.40. These forced liquidations likely amplified buying pressure as bearish traders repurchased XRP to cover their positions.
Remaining liquidity is concentrated above the market around $1.43–$1.45, followed by another zone near $1.47–$1.48. A successful move past the intraday high may drive XRP toward these levels as exchanges close more leveraged short positions.
Additionally, the heatmap indicates substantial liquidity bands beneath the current price. The nearest clusters are observed around $1.34, $1.29, and $1.26, with a denser concentration between $1.20 and $1.22.
Markets often gravitate towards areas with high leveraged positions, yet the liquidation map does not dictate market direction. If XRP cannot surpass $1.43, long positions established during the rally might face challenges during a pullback towards lower clusters.
Can XRP Sustain Its Breakout?
A daily close above $1.40 would bolster the bullish outlook, positioning $1.48 as the next liquidity and technical target. Clearing this range could facilitate a move towards $1.50, a significant psychological threshold that previously halted price progression in early 2026.
Nonetheless, the rally carries potential drawbacks. XRP has surged over 35% from its weekly low within a short timeframe, while the catalyst involving the White House depends on the passing of a bill undergoing challenging negotiations in the Senate.
Ongoing whale accumulation, favorable money flow, and strong support above $1.26 would present convincing evidence that this rally transcends a mere short squeeze. Conversely, failure to maintain that former resistance range could expose XRP to further declines toward $1.20 and ultimately the daily Supertrend level around $1.14.
Disclosure: This article is not intended as investment advice. The content and materials featured are for educational purposes only.