XRP’s Latest Sell-Off May Be Masking a Bigger Move
XRP slipped roughly 7% over the past week and was trading around $1.36 at press time, but some traders still see the chart as a correction inside a larger bullish setup, not a broken trend.
- Weekly move: about -7%
- Price at press time: around $1.36
- Chart view: correction first, breakout later
- Watch zones: $2.42-$2.50, then about $3.65
- Upside scenarios: $6.89 and $13.57 on a measured-move basis
That tension is classic crypto. The market can look ugly just as traders start spotting a clean setup. Sometimes the setup holds. Sometimes it gets blown up by forced selling that turns leverage into confetti.
Analyst Celal Kucuker says XRP’s recent weakness fits a “perfect correction” after a breakout from a broader downtrend. In plain English, he thinks the coin already escaped its old downward structure, pulled back to reset, and could still have room to move into an “expansion phase” if buyers return.
His chart points first to the $2.42-$2.50 area as an important reclaim zone, with a larger resistance band near $3.65. From there, the projected path extends to roughly $6.89 and eventually $13.57, based on a measured-move comparison of about 270%.
A measured move is a technical method that projects a future target by comparing the size of one move with a prior one. It is not a prophecy carved into stone. It is a way traders estimate what a similar leg might look like if momentum returns.
Kucuker’s work also hinges on XRP breaking above a descending resistance line, which is just a trendline connecting lower highs. That kind of breakout is often treated as a bullish signal because it suggests sellers are losing control of the trend.
Still, those are scenario-based targets, not guarantees. XRP has spent enough time baiting chart traders into overconfidence to make anyone with a pulse wary. The coin can absolutely keep running if momentum improves, but the market does not owe anyone a straight line to $13 because a line on a chart looks pretty.
There is also a separate explanation for why XRP has been lagging lately. Software engineer and longtime XRP supporter Vincent Van Code said repeated market-wide liquidations may be dragging on XRP more than on Bitcoin, pointing to weakness in the XRP/BTC pair during each dump.
“Another dump, another close of leveraged positions. The cycle continues. But a subtle plan is playing out if you look carefully. As the market dumps, lead by BTC Whales IMO, the other pairs like XRP/BTC show a downward trend, ie each dump, XRP price compared to BTC and market…”
He also speculated that large Bitcoin holders may have an incentive to suppress competing crypto assets, but he explicitly acknowledged that he cannot confirm the theory. That matters. Without evidence, it stays speculation, the kind crypto loves to dress up as hidden truth when the simpler answer is usually just leverage getting wiped out and altcoins taking the harder hit.
In other words, forced liquidations are real, correlation is real, and altcoins often bleed more than Bitcoin when risk comes off. A secret whale cabal is a much bigger claim, and no evidence was presented to support it.
Meanwhile, Ripple is pushing further into institutional finance. Ripple Prime launched a Delta One desk and expanded into total return swaps covering U.S.-listed equities, equity indices, and digital assets. A Delta One desk offers exposure to an asset’s price moves without necessarily requiring direct ownership. A total return swap is a derivative contract that lets an institution capture the performance of an asset without holding it outright.
Ripple says its prime brokerage operation brings more than $1 billion in regulatory net capital. That is a serious number, and it gives the company more institutional credibility. It does not, though, automatically light a fire under XRP’s spot price. Corporate expansion is not the same thing as instant token demand, no matter how many people pretend otherwise for clout.
Then there is Evernorth Holdings, which is making progress toward a Nasdaq listing. According to the SEC, Evernorth’s Form S-4 registration statement was declared effective, a key step in the merger process with a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Evernorth holds more than 473 million XRP, and the combined business is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN, with the listing targeted for late Q3 or early Q4 2026.
That is meaningful from a market-structure perspective. A public vehicle tied to XRP can improve visibility, institutional access, and maybe even sentiment. But let’s not kid ourselves: a filing becoming effective and a ticker getting planned are not the same thing as immediate buy pressure on XRP itself. The market has a nasty habit of rewarding press releases with applause and then ignoring the asset price.
So the real question is not whether XRP has positive headlines around it. It does. The real question is whether the token can hold the technical structure Kucuker is pointing to and whether the broader market environment stops punishing risk assets long enough for that setup to mature.
If XRP reclaims the key resistance areas, the bullish case gets louder. If it fails, the whole “perfect correction” idea starts to look a lot less perfect and a lot more like another overconfident chart reading getting mugged by market reality.
Either way, the current pullback does not settle the debate. It just sharpens it.
Key takeaways
-
Is XRP’s recent drop a bearish breakdown?
Not necessarily. Celal Kucuker sees it as a correction inside a larger bullish structure, but XRP still needs to prove that view by reclaiming key levels. -
What price levels matter most now?
The first important area is $2.42-$2.50, followed by a stronger resistance zone near $3.65. Those levels help show whether buyers are regaining control. -
Are the $6.89 and $13.57 targets guaranteed?
No. They are chart-based upside projections, not promises. Reaching them would likely require strong momentum and a broadly favorable crypto market. -
Is there proof that Bitcoin whales are suppressing XRP?
No proof was presented. Vincent Van Code’s idea is explicitly speculative, so it should be treated as a theory, not a confirmed explanation. -
Do Ripple Prime and Evernorth automatically lift XRP’s price?
No. They add institutional credibility and public-market exposure, but that does not automatically translate into immediate spot demand for XRP.
XRP Prices Latest Dump May Be Hiding a Bigger Move! XRP still has a path to a much bigger move, but it has to earn it. Right now the chart is talking, the headlines are improving, and the market is doing what it always does best: making everyone wait.
XRP Nears 2018 Price Zone as Bulls Eye Second Chance, ETF can be read as a reminder that old price zones still matter when traders are hunting for support, resistance, and narrative fuel.
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Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP Bottom Zones Eye BTC $43K Support puts XRP’s weakness into a wider market context, where Bitcoin’s support levels often decide whether altcoins get relief or get dragged through the mud.
