A wallet moved 145.6 million XRP worth about $206.6 million as the token trades near $1.40, and technical charts show the price trapped in a descending channel below key resistance. Falling derivatives exposure suggests the rally was spot-driven, but thick sell orders above $1.40 threaten to cap any recovery.
Whale transfer raises supply questions
XRP's recovery now faces a supply test after a whale wallet moved 145.6 million XRP, worth about $206.6 million. Both wallets involved remain unknown, so the transfer does not confirm a sale.
Timing still matters. XRP is experiencing high amounts of liquidation on the sell side at prices greater than $1.40, with heavy sell-order activity sitting near $1.50 on Binance and even thicker clustered orders on Coinbase. Unless spot demand strengthens, those layers could keep the recovery capped — but the transfer only turns bearish if the coins actually reach an exchange.
Falling leverage points to spot-driven gains
The supply concern arrives alongside a shift in derivatives positioning. XRP climbed from roughly $1.00 to $1.42 even as traders steadily reduced their exposure. Bybit's 30-day open interest in XRP stood at about 61 million XRP by the end of August, then fell to -37.5 million XRP by mid-September, a 98.5 million XRP turnaround while price gained about 42%.
That divergence suggests the advance came from spot accumulation rather than fresh leverage. However, falling open interest does not reveal whether the unwound positions were long or short, so the data cannot confirm whether long profit-taking or short squeezes drove the move.
Descending channel keeps buyers boxed in
XRP is trading around $1.40 after the earlier run from roughly $1.00 toward $1.55, but the market has since settled into a descending channel marked by a sequence of lower highs. On the daily chart, a rebound from the $1.32-$1.35 support zone was rejected near $1.48 at the channel's upper boundary, leaving resistance around $1.43-$1.45.
A confirmed breakout above the channel could open the path toward the $1.48-$1.55 highs and eventually the $1.61-$1.70 zone. A breakdown below the $1.33-$1.36 support would expose the channel's lower boundary and the broader $1.22-$1.27 demand zone below it.
Sources: AMBCrypto, CryptoPotato
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