This week is starting off with the same stuff that has been keeping the crypto market busy all of the previous year: regulatory clashes, changing liquidity and unexpected volatility traps. XRP just showed how quickly sentiment can change.
Now, Coinbase and the White House might be next.
TL;DR
- XRP short sellers just got crushed big time, with a 16,559% liquidation imbalance in the long/short ratio.
- Binance slashes 22 pairs: Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoin pairs removed in liquidity purge.
- Pro-Ripple camp fires back at Coinbase after the White House threatens CLARITY bill withdrawal.
XRP sellers took 16,559% short squeeze
What happened on the XRP charts this morning was not a rally — it was a bloodbath on one side of the book. According to CoinGlass liquidation heatmap data, XRP short positions suffered $84,290 in liquidations versus just $509.63 in long-side wipeouts, creating an extreme 16,559% imbalance favoring bulls.
On the TradingView chart, XRP/USD surged to over $1.98 before dropping back to $1.976. This happened while the total liquidations on the crypto market were pretty low for the hour, worth $2.54 million.
But XRP’s impact was strong and uneven. It was all about targeting weak-side leverage.
Looking at the big picture, XRP’s daily setup is still in post-breakout consolidation mode, holding above the $1.90-$1.95 zone that used to be overhead resistance. This liquidation event suggests that whales are actively defending the new base, which might mean a broader squeeze toward the $2.04-$2.10 region in the days ahead.
Bitcoin is still the big player when it comes to total notional liquidations with $1.02 million in the last hour, but XRP’s precision short squeeze — which is mostly isolated from the long-side impact — suggests that tactical accumulation is in the works.
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Binance delisting wave hits 22 coins: Bitcoin’s been affected too
Binance just announced a big liquidity management operation, and they are removing 22 spot trading pairs. Some of these are tied to Bitcoin, Ethereum and even stablecoins like FDUSD.
The full list includes pairs like BTC/ZAR, ETH/ZAR, ENS/BTC, SLP/ETH, ORDI/BTC and ADX/ETH, along with multiple low-liquidity altcoin/BNB or altcoin/FDUSD combinations. All trading activity for these pairs will stop on Jan. 20 at 8:00 a.m. UTC, with spot trading bots for the affected pairs being terminated at the same time.
Binance said that delisting does not mean tokens are permanently removed; it is just for these specific pairings. If an asset still trades in other combinations like ADA/USDT, that availability remains.
Why it matters:
- BTC/ETH pairs are often used in cross-chain rebalancing or DeFi LP flows. Removing them might mean thinning depth or failing arbitrage traffic.
- Pairings like SLP/ETH and MOVR/BTC show how Binance is trying to cut deadweight listings that are not worth keeping order books up.
- FDUSD is becoming more and more important, replacing old pairings with underperforming tokens.
This is about Binance’s internal liquidity migration, not just routine hygiene.
Pro-Ripple Lawyer takes jab at Coinbase CEO: What’s going on?
Over the weekend, pro-XRP attorney Fred Rispoli and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong had a heated showdown, sparked by journalist Eleanor Terrett’s report that federal regulators might pull their support for the CLARITY Act if the major U.S. exchange does not agree to a deal for a yield-bearing stablecoin that traditional banks are happy with.
Rispoli fired back, saying that Coinbase’s legal practices are already hurting users and that Terrett’s reporting is far more reliable than Armstrong’s rebuttals. He pointed out that Coinbase’s courtroom strategy does not align with their public image.
Terrett says policymakers were livid about what they saw as Coinbase’s move earlier in the week. They saw it as a breach of coordination that could mess up the legislative consensus. The administration reportedly thinks Coinbase is misrepresenting the interests of the broader crypto industry.
But Armstrong said that is not really how things went down. He said that government officials had asked Coinbase to talk with the banks about options, and now the company is working on that. He said the firm is working on proposals to help smaller regional banks through clearer rules.
The whole thing stems from the fight over who represents the crypto industry. The legislation in question is designed to define how digital assets are regulated, classified and taxed. If Coinbase loses its political partners, it might also lose influence over how that framework is written — and how platforms like Ripple or stablecoin issuers are treated.
Crypto market outlook
Despite brutal headlines, markets are entering the week with controlled posture. From a macro lens, total 24-hour liquidations stand at $874.89 million, with long-side damage still outpacing shorts, hinting that leverage is still mostly positioned on the buy side.
Key levels to watch:
- Bitcoin (BTC): $89,500 must hold to avoid sweeping stop-loss cascades down to $86,500-$84,000.
- XRP: Reclamation of $2.04 sets stage for $2.20 test. Failure to hold $1.95 invites drawdown to $1.89.
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