XRP faces structural pressure despite institutional support.
The altcoin market is still hunting for a bottom.
With the Altcoin Season Index dropping back to mid-July territory, investor appetite for “high-risk, high-reward” plays is clearly fading.
In this kind of tape, holding major support levels becomes crucial for high-beta names.
XRP is feeling that pressure too. Since the October washout, it has lost the $2 floor twice, failing to reclaim the key levels needed for a clean V-shaped recovery. In short, the chart shows a bearish market structure.
Source: TradingView (XRP/USDT)
That said, this kind of structure has historically preceded accumulation.
Case in point: Earlier this year, XRP spent Q1 and Q2 chopping sideways before a late-June breakout triggered a parabolic move to its multi-year high at $3.60, showing how prolonged consolidation can fuel strong upside.
A similar pattern seems to be forming now.
Over the past month, $1.3 billion in XRP has left exchanges, with reserves dropping from $7.03 billion to $5.70 billion.
Against this backdrop, could Ripple’s ongoing sideways chop be setting the stage for the next big move?
Strong XRP demand meets weak fundamentals
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Q4 kicked off with Ripple ETF buzz, and the momentum is starting to show.
So far, ETF clients have snapped up $8.73 million worth of XRP, bringing total ETF-held net assets to $945.49 million.
Structurally, this adds another layer of support to XRP as it navigates its current consolidation phase.
That said, on-chain activity tells a different story. The Total Fees Paid per Day on XRP have fallen from 5.9k/day in early February to just 650 XRP/day, marking an 89% drop to levels not seen since December 2020.
Source: Glassnode
Put simply, the gap between fundamentals and market activity is widening.
While institutional flows are providing support, declining on-chain activity implies muted organic demand.
Backing this, XRPL’s TVL has dropped to $70 million, showing that on-chain liquidity on the network is tightening.
Taken together, these factors suggest that XRP’s recent accumulation is more speculative than fundamentally driven.
As a result, weak on-chain activity on XRPL could keep it range-bound until network usage rebounds.
Final Thoughts
- XRP has lost the $2 floor twice and shows a bearish chart structure, yet historical sideways consolidation often precedes accumulation. However, on-chain fees and TVL are sharply declining, suggesting weak organic demand and keeping XRP range-bound.
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