XRP slipped back below $1 on Tuesday even as XRP Ledger transactions above $1 million surged 280% in 24 hours. Rising Binance open interest and heavier exchange withdrawals add to the uncertainty, while technical indicators keep pointing lower.
XRP dropped back below $1 on Tuesday, Aug. 18, even as a jump in large blockchain transactions and rising exchange leverage failed to spark a lasting rebound. The token last changed hands near $0.996, down 0.4% over 24 hours and 1.2% over the past week. Its market cap stood near $62.4 billion, ranking it sixth among cryptocurrencies.
The token traded between approximately $0.989 and $1.01 over the past 24 hours, remaining 9.1% lower over 30 days and about 66.7% below its level a year earlier. The token briefly recovered above $1 on Monday after opening near $0.994. Buyers failed to hold the rebound, however, sending the price back under the threshold on Tuesday.
XRP price remains fragile below $1
The XRP/USDT daily chart shows a broader downtrend from the July 2025 high of $3.65. Immediate support sits at $0.988, matching Tuesday's intraday low. A daily close below that level would expose $0.95, followed by the $0.85 to $0.90 range. Recovering buyers would need to clear $1 to $1.05 before contesting resistance between $1.16 and $1.18, which would require stronger volume and momentum.
Whale activity surges without confirming direction
Analyst Ali Martinez reported that XRP Ledger transactions worth more than $1 million rose 280% within 24 hours, climbing above 38 large transactions. According to Martinez: "whales are back". Transaction counts alone, however, do not show whether large holders were buying, selling, or moving tokens between wallets, and the price stayed below $1 during the increase. Separate data reportedly showed whale transfers to Binance falling to their lowest level since 2021, with a three-month average near $61 million.
Withdrawals and rising leverage add risk
CryptoQuant contributor Amr Taha reported that Coinbase's seven-day net wallet count fell to minus 14,300 on Aug. 17, while Binance and Crypto.com also recorded more withdrawing wallets than depositing ones. Coinbase reportedly accounted for 47.3% of the absolute wallet imbalance across the exchanges tracked. Meanwhile, Binance open interest rose about 28.6% between Aug. 3 and Aug. 17, a build in leverage that could sharpen liquidations if the market breaks from its current range.
Technical indicators stayed bearish too. The Awesome Oscillator held near minus 0.0630. The bull-and-bear power gauge stood near minus 0.0377, with neither confirming a bottom. Price targets between $15 and $17 would require gains exceeding 1,400% from current levels and remain speculative, as do forecasts of a decline into the $0.65 to $0.85 range.
Source: crypto.news
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