Key Highlights
- XRP jumped 10% over the past 24 hours to $1.10, after trading as low as $0.9956.
- XRP futures volume climbed to $2.92 billion, while open interest stood at about $2.81 billion and roughly $9.12 million in positions were liquidated over 24 hours.
- XRP also gained 3.1% against Bitcoin, showing the token was outperforming the wider crypto market.
XRP price has staged its strongest daily rebound in weeks, climbing nearly 7% to around $1.10 after briefly slipping below the closely watched $1 level.
The token traded as low as $0.9958 before reaching an intraday high of $1.10, a swing of 10% from the session low. XRP had spent much of August struggling around $1, making the recovery above $1.05 a notable reversal from the recent weakness.
XRP also gained 3.1% against Bitcoin, suggesting the rally was not simply following the broader crypto market higher
XRP Futures Volume Nears $3 Billion
Derivatives activity accelerated alongside the price rebound as XRP futures volume stood at roughly $2.95 billion, compared with approximately $505.8 million in tracked spot volume, while total futures open interest reached about $2.79 billion.
Around $9.13 million of XRP futures positions had also been liquidated over the previous 24 hours, according to CoinGlass. Futures turnover was therefore almost six times CoinGlass’s tracked spot volume as XRP reclaimed $1.
The sharp increase in derivatives activity shows traders rapidly rebuilt exposure as XRP moved away from the $1 support zone, although the liquidation data alone does not establish whether futures positioning can sustain the rally.
XRP Whale Transactions Surged 280%
Large-value activity accelerated further immediately before the rebound. On August 18, The Crypto Times reported that XRP whale transactions had surged approximately 280%, with more than 38 transactions worth at least $1 million recorded over a 24-hour period.
The increase occurred while XRP was still struggling around $1, before the latest move toward $1.10.
Large transfers cannot by themselves confirm accumulation because they may represent purchases, sales, custody movements or transfers between wallets. However, the spike came alongside separate evidence showing that some large XRP cohorts had already been increasing their balances.
XRP ETFs Now Hold Nearly 1 Billion Tokens
U.S. XRP investment products are also holding close to 1 billion XRP. Seven products tracked by XRP Insights held 994.72 million XRP at the latest reading, equivalent to about 0.9947% of XRP’s 100 billion maximum supply. The products recorded $26.80 million in trading volume at the latest market close on August 18.
Bitwise accounted for $18.55 million of the total, followed by Franklin Templeton with $4.80 million and Canary Capital with $2.59 million.
The 994.72 million XRP represents existing ETF holdings rather than fresh daily inflows, but it shows that U.S. investment products already held almost 1 billion tokens before XRP’s latest rally.
XRP Ledger Activity Rose Before the Price Rally
The XRP Ledger was also becoming more active while XRP’s price remained depressed. Santiment recorded 49,929 active XRP addresses in a single 24-hour period on August 13, the highest level in more than two months. At the same time, social commentary around XRP had reached its most bearish level in roughly three months.
The divergence had already been building through August, as average daily active addresses increased to roughly 35,700 in August from about 26,400 in July, an increase of around 35%.
New-address creation remained comparatively flat at about 2,260 per day, suggesting much of the increase came from existing XRP Ledger participants becoming more active rather than a sudden influx of new wallets.
Price was therefore moving lower while existing network participants were transacting more frequently and large holders were increasing their balances. Wednesday’s rebound is the first major price move this month to begin closing that divergence.
Ripple Had Two Institutional Developments Before the Rally
Ripple also entered the price rebound following two institutional developments announced on August 18. Ripple Prime raised $275 million through an upsized private placement of senior unsecured notes. The notes received a BBB investment-grade rating from KBRA, with the proceeds earmarked for Ripple Prime’s U.S. clearing, financing and prime-brokerage operations.
Separately, Ripple partnered with Jeonbuk Bank, making the South Korean lender the country’s first regional bank to deploy Ripple Payments for cross-border remittances.
Neither announcement establishes that the institutions involved were purchasing XRP, and XRP initially remained around $1 after the news. The timing instead suggests that whale accumulation, network activity and positioning had created the XRP-specific setup before the broader market catalyst arrived.
SEC Crypto Proposal Adds Regulatory Tailwind for XRP
Regulatory sentiment also improved after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission formally proposed Regulation Crypto Assets on August 18 The proposal would create two exemptions for certain crypto offerings and introduce a conditional safe harbor under which a crypto asset could cease being subject to an investment contract if specified conditions are met.
While the proposal is not an XRP-specific rule and does not change XRP’s legal status by itself, XRP has historically been particularly sensitive to U.S. securities regulation following Ripple’s years-long dispute with the SEC.
The SEC’s proposed crypto framework, includes offering exemptions of up to $5 million over four years and up to $75 million during a 12-month period.
Treasury Buybacks Push Crypto Market Higher
The XRP-specific rebound was then reinforced by a broader macro move on Wednesday.
The U.S. Treasury announced that it will at least double the maximum size of liquidity-support buybacks for longer-dated Treasury securities, increasing operations from $2 billion to at least $4 billion beginning September 9.
The announcement pushed long-term yields lower as they fell by as much as 10 basis points, while the dollar weakened and cryptocurrencies moved sharply higher.
Bitcoin subsequently climbed more than 5% above $68,000, while the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization rose more than 5%, creating a stronger risk-on backdrop for XRP and other altcoins.
The Treasury program is a liquidity-support operation for the Treasury market, not Federal Reserve quantitative easing. Its immediate market impact came through lower long-term yields, a weaker dollar and improved demand for risk and hard assets rather than through direct money creation by the Fed.
Can XRP Price Hold Above $1.06?
XRP is now trading around $1.10, after recovering more than 10% from its 24-hour low near $0.9956.
The move above $1.06 has cleared the first supply area that had limited the rebound earlier this month.
A sustained move above $1.10 would extend XRP’s breakout, while a drop back below $1.06 would weaken the latest advance and put the $1 level back into focus.
For now, XRP is outperforming the wider market as whale accumulation, higher network activity, nearly 1 billion XRP held by U.S. investment products and rising trading volume accompany the move above $1.10.
Also Read: Bitcoin, Ethereum Surge as Crypto Liquidations Reach $1.91 Billion
