Key Insights:
- XRP trades near $1.44 as wallet growth hits records, but falling whale activity keeps XRP price stuck in consolidation.
- Retail and mid-tier wallet numbers continue rising, showing adoption growth even as trading volume and open interest decline.
- Neutral RSI and weakening MACD momentum suggest the market may stay range-bound until a stronger catalyst appears.
XRP remained under pressure this week after failing to sustain its move above the $1.60 resistance level, forcing the token to fall back below $1.50. At the time of writing, XRP traded near $1.44, while daily trading volume stood around $1.61 billion, reflecting a decline of more than 1% over the past 24 hours.
The token, however, performed weakly in the short term, but in the long-term, the token registered a weekly gain of approximately 3% even though the price action was identically trapped in a narrow band of consolidation. Post weeks XRP had briefly spent the week above $1.60 and a monthly high, however, the pressure to sell soon came into force, and most of the gain was washed away before the end of the session.
XRP price range signals weak trend momentum
Under the daily time frame, XRP is still traded laterally following its last decline, where the price is trading near the middle of the recent range. This stance tends to indicate that the buyers and sellers are at an equilibrium so that the market does not create a high momentum on either sides.
Sideways trading conditions normally occur when investors are waiting to get new catalysts before making bigger movements and the current price action indicates that caution is high. At least in the short term, XRP will move in circles within the same range unless the volume of trading increases significantly or accumulation on the part of the large holders is higher.
Wallet growth rises while whales decline
According to data from Santiment, the XRP Ledger continues to record steady growth in user activity, especially among smaller holders. Addresses holding fewer than 100 coins reached a record 5.66 million, while wallets holding between 100 and 100,000 coins increased to about 2.01 million.
At the same time, wallets containing more than 100,000 coins declined to 32,054, showing that some large investors reduced exposure during the latest consolidation period. Even with the drop, these large accounts still control a significant portion of the supply, meaning their activity can strongly influence future XRP price movements.
Trading volume drops as open interest falls
According to market information provided by Coinglass, XRP is also experiencing weaker trading, with the total volume decreasing approximately by 26% to approximately close to $2.81 billion. The open interest was reduced by about 1% to approximately $2.5 billion and also, there was a significant reduction in the volume of the options trading by 43% to some $1.55 million of the same at the same time.
Options open interest, however, edged higher to approximately $59.54 million, suggesting that some traders are still preparing for possible volatility ahead. Since early January, total open interest has fallen from nearly $4.6 billion to current levels, confirming that leveraged positions have cooled significantly.
Indicators show neutral outlook for XRP Market
Technical indicators indicate that XRP also does not have good directional momentum as the Relative Strength Index is close to 50. This level puts the token in the neutral ground, that is, the market is neither overbought nor oversold at this point.
The MACD indicator is still slight positive with the MACD line at approximately 0.0046 and the histogram at approximately 0.0113 but the histogram has begun to fade off. At times, when momentum indicators remain close to none, the price tends to be in the continuing sideways trend until there is evidence of increased purchase or sale.
Regulatory clarity and adoption support network growth
Network statistics show that more than 7.7 million wallets now hold at least one coin, marking a major milestone in the ledger’s thirteen-year history. Retail wallet growth increased from about 4.7 million in early 2025 to 5.66 million today, showing broader participation from smaller investors.
Analysts attribute the growth to the fact that the long legal tussle with the U.S. authorities was resolved and regulatory uncertainty about the asset had been eliminated. As more traders adopt and the price is firm, several traders hope that XRP would be able to move more in the future provided there is a re-accumulation of whales.
