XRP market stalls – Why prices lag despite $423M crypto wipeout

Ripple’s XRP posted gains as Bitcoin’s [BTC] sudden surge pulled the market into the green. However, the token still lagged behind most major assets.

The surge triggered massive market liquidations, as traders were caught off guard by Bitcoin’s sudden jump. While sentiment has improved, XRP’s struggle to keep pace with the rest of the sector is concerning.

BTC leads, top alts follow

Bitcoin jumped a few hours ago, climbing nearly 10% in a single hourly candle, and pulling the rest of the market with it.

Ethereum [ETH] reacted the strongest among the majors, rising about 6.1%, while Solana [SOL] posted a 2.32% gain.

The spike is one of the day’s fastest moves across the top assets, with BTC’s sudden breakout giving the entire party a boost.

Source: TradingView

However, things calmed down after the initial surge. Prices pulled back from their intraday highs, and most assets settled into a tight range as traders reassessed. Follow-through has been limited so far.

A possible reason why? A burst of large BTC inflows (including multi-thousand-BTC purchases by major trading desks and a sizable whale) circulated widely on X as the first sign of coordinated buying.

Source: X

The move came just as the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency clarified that banks can execute riskless principal crypto trades.

Source: occ.gov

The Fed rate decision (that is set for later today) will also be something to watch out for. With macro sentiment leaning cautious, the tone from the central bank could influence crypto just as much as the decision itself.

Nic Puckrin, investment analyst and co-founder of The Coin Bureau, told AMBCrypto,

“Though a rate cut is now expected by nearly 90% of market participants and largely priced in, it’s the forward guidance that matters, and investors appear to be betting on a “hawkish cut” tomorrow.”

XRP is an outlier

While Bitcoin and major altcoins posted strong gains, XRP’s reaction was far more restrained. The token surged to around $2.17, but then quickly faded, sending it back toward $2.08 at press time.

That is a rise of only about 1-2% from its pre-spike level. Compared to ETH and SOL, XRP’s upside was limited.

Source: TradingView

XRP’s RSI showed weak buying pressure, while OBV trended lower too – there was little improvement in demand.

Traders get stuck on the wrong side

This triggered a massive wave of liquidations, clearing over $423 million in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin accounted for the largest share at $166.89 million, followed by Ethereum at $134.77 million. Therefore, markets were clearly heavily leveraged heading into the spike.

Source: CoinGlass

Short positions bore the brunt of the move, with $310.27 million wiped out, compared to $113.07 million in long liquidations.

Even within the last hour, positions worth over $2.34 million were liquidated, showing the extent of how abrupt it was. The largest single liquidation order hit nearly $24 million on a BTC-USDT pair.

Final Thoughts

• XRP’s relative slog during Bitcoin’s rally is concerning.
• With over $423 milliom in liquidations and volatility still high, traders should brace for swings.