XRP is trading above the $2.20 level after several days of relief-driven price action, offering bulls a temporary pause following months of sustained selling pressure. The rebound has eased short-term stress, but conviction remains fragile. Analysts are increasingly divided on what comes next. Some warn that the broader market structure still points toward a prolonged bearish phase, while others argue that XRP may be in the early stages of a recovery if key levels continue to hold. Related Reading: XRP Shows “Coiled Spring” Setup As Network Liquidity Hits Record Levels As the market waits for clearer direction, new derivatives data adds another layer to the outlook. A recent CryptoQuant analysis highlights intense turbulence in XRP’s futures market, where leverage positioning was aggressively reset in a short period of time. The data shows a rare sequence in which short positions were flushed out first, followed shortly after by liquidations on the long side. This type of two-sided liquidation event typically signals heightened uncertainty, with traders on both ends misaligned with short-term price movements. Rather than confirming a clean trend, the liquidation pattern suggests that XRP is transitioning into a more balanced but volatile phase. Excess leverage has been cleared, which can reduce immediate downside risk, but it also reflects hesitation among participants to commit strongly in either direction. Binance Futures Data Explains XRP’s Choppy Price Action XRP’s recent price behavior becomes clearer when viewed through the lens of Binance Futures activity. According to a CryptoQuant analysis, the market experienced a rapid sequence of liquidation events that reshaped short-term dynamics and explained why momentum faded after the initial rally. On January 5, XRP saw a sharp short squeeze, with total short liquidations exceeding $4.4 million. Binance accounted for the vast majority of that figure, confirming that short positioning was heavily concentrated on its derivatives platform. This forced buying helped propel the price higher and fueled the move toward the $2.40 area. However, the rally proved unstable. By January 6, price action reversed modestly, and the market began targeting the opposite side of the book. A wave of long liquidations followed, totaling roughly $4 million, including about $1 million on Binance. Shortly after, an additional liquidation spike of around $1.5 million hit long positions, signaling that late buyers who chased the breakout were being flushed out. Liquidation heatmaps on lower timeframes reinforce this sequence. Price action first cleared short-side liquidity before rotating lower to pressure newly opened long positions. With the short squeeze largely exhausted, XRP now appears to be testing long holder conviction. Binance continues to dominate XRP derivatives activity, and these two-sided liquidation events often precede sharp reversals. In the near term, price is likely to remain volatile as the market recalibrates positioning. Related Reading: Bitcoin Enters Accumulation Regime: Market Supported By Seller Exhaustion, Not Buying Surge XRP Price Faces Key Resistance After Relief Bounce XRP’s 3-day chart shows a market attempting to stabilize after a prolonged corrective phase, but still facing clear structural resistance. Price has rebounded sharply from the late-2025 lows near the $1.80–$1.90 region, a level that acted as a demand zone aligned with the long-term red moving average. This bounce suggests downside momentum has weakened, at least temporarily, as sellers struggled to push price below that support. However, the recovery is running into friction around the $2.25–$2.30 area. This zone coincides with the declining blue and green moving averages, which previously acted as dynamic support during the uptrend and are now functioning as resistance. The rejection near these levels highlights that XRP remains in a broader corrective structure rather than a confirmed trend reversal. Related Reading: Venezuela, Geopolitical Risk, And Bitcoin: What On-Chain Data Really Shows While the rebound was impulsive, volume has not expanded meaningfully compared to earlier distribution phases. Short covering and liquidation flows drive the move more than strong spot accumulation. Structurally, the sequence of lower highs from the mid-2025 peak remains intact. XRP must hold above $2.20 and reclaim the $2.40–$2.60 region to shift momentum decisively. Failure to do so increases the risk of another consolidation or a retest of lower support. In short, XRP is showing relief strength, but confirmation is still missing. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com
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