After failing to push past the critical short‑term resistance at $1.60 last 
week, XRP has slid about 8%, settling back into the $1.35–$1.40 trading range. 
Market analyst Sam Daodu says three connected problems explain why recent 
rallies have fizzled and what must change for a sustainable recovery. XRP 
Faces Resistance Until Bitcoin Clears $75,000 First, Bitcoin (BTC) dominance 
remains high. Daodu notes Bitcoin’s share of the crypto market has hovered 
around 58.6% for much of 2026 and stayed above 58% most of the time. 
Historically, broad altcoin rallies tend to begin when Bitcoin dominance falls 
below 50% and capital rotates from BTC into smaller tokens. That rotation has 
not occurred: institutions are not reallocating to altcoins but either leaving 
crypto or keeping funds in Bitcoin as a perceived safe haven. Daodu argues 
that unless Bitcoin decisively breaks and holds above $75,000, even XRP’s 
strong fundamentals are unlikely to move its price materially. Related 
Reading: MARA Holdings’ Bitcoin Sell-Off: 15,000 BTC Liquidated As Prices 
Crash Below $69,000 Second, large holders have been steadily taking profits 
since XRP hit $3.65 in July 2025. Daodu estimates roughly $6 billion in XRP 
has been sold by whales since that peak, and substantial volumes continue to 
flow onto exchanges. The expert identified that many of these whales 
originally bought below $0.65, so they are willing to sell into rallies to 
lock in gains, asserting that selling pressure keeps rallies short‑ lived. 
Third, a large portion of holders sits underwater, which creates persistent 
resistance near the current price. Glassnode data cited by Daodu shows 60% of 
circulating XRP is held at a cost basis above today’s levels; the average cost 
basis across holders is approximately $1.44. Because that average is nearly 
the center of XRP’s recent trading band, holders who have been losing money 
sell when price approaches breakeven, using $1.45 as a take‑profit level. ETFs 
Fail To Absorb Supply Daodu adds that even if XRP clears $1.45, further layers 
of selling are likely: positions across the $1.40–$3.65 range contain clusters 
of holders looking to return to breakeven or better, meaning upward moves tend 
to meet fresh supply. Exchange‑traded funds (ETFs) focused on XRP add another 
structural constraint. Total assets under management (AuM) fell from ITS 
January peak of $1.65 billion to about $1 billion as the token’s price 
declined. At the current inflow pace—roughly $1.9 million per week—ETFs would 
only add about $100 million by year‑end, a level Daodu argues is insufficient 
to meaningfully soak up supply. Is Regulatory Clarity The Key? Looking ahead, 
Daodu points to one potential catalyst that could change the dynamics: the 
long-awaited US crypto market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, which has faced 
significant opposition in recent months due to key provisions that have 
prevented its passage. If the bill becomes law and formally cements XRP’s 
status as a commodity, Daodu argues, it would reduce regulatory uncertainty 
and could unlock broader institutional adoption. That in turn might encourage 
banks to settle in XRP rather than relying on alternatives such as Ripple’s 
RLUSD stablecoin, creating the kind of demand pressure that could finally push 
the price out of its current range. Related Reading: NVIDIA Faces Class Action 
After Court OKs $1 Billion Crypto-Mining Revenue Claims – Stock Dips 7% In 
short, Daodu’s view is that XRP needs multiple things to shift at once: a 
change in capital flows away from Bitcoin, less selling from large holders, 
and materially larger ETF inflows—or a regulatory development that brings 
institutions on board. Until several of those factors move together, the 
analyst says, XRP rallies are likely to remain short‑lived and the token stuck 
near its recent trading band. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from 
TradingView.com

3 Reasons XRP Rallies Stall — What Must Change For A Sustained Recovery

XRP shows improving risk-adjusted returns alongside rising whale flows, but 
rising leverage use and repeat liquidations point to a fragile futures market.

XRP risk-reward improves as whale accumulation rises: Will price follow?

Data shows the XRP Open Interest has witnessed a notable surge alongside the 
asset&#8217;s price drop, a sign that investors have been putting up fresh bets. XRP 
Open Interest Has Shot Up Over The Past Day As pointed out by CryptoQuant 
community analyst Maartunn in an X post, the XRP Open Interest has seen a jump 
recently. This indicator measures the total amount of positions related to the 
asset that are currently open on all centralized derivatives exchanges. 
Related Reading: Bitcoin Realized Price Sits At $54,000—Will BTC Revisit It 
This Cycle? When the value of the metric rises, it means investors are opening 
up fresh positions on the market. Generally, new positions come with an 
overall increase in the leverage for the sector, so the asset could end up 
becoming more volatile following a jump in the indicator On the other hand, 
the Open Interest witnessing a decline implies traders are either closing up 
positions of their own volition or getting forcibly liquidated by their 
platform. In either case, the reduced leverage can make the market more 
stable. Now, here is the chart shared by Maartunn that shows the trend in the 
XRP Open Interest over the last few days: As displayed in the above graph, the 
XRP Open Interest has gone up during the past day. This surge in the indicator 
has come alongside a drawdown in the cryptocurrency&#8217;s spot price. Thus, it 
would appear that traders have been trying to guess where the coin will move 
after this decline. As mentioned earlier, an increase in the metric can make 
the asset behave in a volatile manner. This is due to the fact that mass 
liquidation events are more likely to occur the more overleveraged the market 
is. Where the cryptocurrency heads from here could become the trigger for such 
an event. In the case of a further drawdown, longs could get caught up in 
liquidations, acting as fuel for an extended decline. Related Reading: 
Bittensor (TAO) Rallies 35%, But Social Sentiment Stays Mixed XRP isn&#8217;t the 
only asset that has seen a jump in the Open Interest recently. As CryptoQuant 
has highlighted in an X post, Bitcoin has also observed a positive change in 
the metric. The latest bearish price action in the sector has meant that 
liquidations have already started piling up on exchanges, with longs being the 
most heavily affected, according to data from CoinGlass. As displayed in the 
table, liquidations in the sector have totaled at $450 million, with about 
$401 million coming from the bullish positions. XRP Price XRP has plunged to 
the $1.33 level following the bearish action. Featured image from Dall-E, 
chart from TradingView.com

XRP Open Interest Surges As Price Slides—More Volatility Ahead?

A federal judge in California granted class certification on March 25 in a 
long-running securities fraud lawsuit accusing Nvidia of hiding more than $1 
billion in cryptocurrency-driven GPU revenue from investors. Judge Rules 
Nvidia Investor Fraud Lawsuit Can Proceed as Class Action U.S. District Judge 
Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. of the Northern District of California […]

Nvidia Crypto Revenue Lawsuit Gets Class Certification From California Federal Court

Crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky said legislation covering crypto developer 
protections has been overshadowed by the intense focus on stablecoin yield in 
the CLARITY Act.

Cryptocurrency price in CLP