XRP Faces Mixed Signals as ETF Momentum Clashes With Derivatives Sell-Off

XRP entered Tuesday’s session navigating a conflicted market backdrop, where strong institutional inflows into new XRP ETFs were overshadowed by an aggressive derivatives unwinding event. Franklin Templeton’s XRPZ and Grayscale’s GXRP collectively attracted about $164 million in first-day inflows, marking one of the most impressive altcoin ETF launches in recent years. The surge highlights rising institutional demand for regulated XRP exposure and reinforces the asset’s growing presence in mainstream investment vehicles.

Despite this bullish fundamental development, derivatives markets sent a sharply different message. Binance Open Interest collapsed from $1.7 billion to a yearly low of $504 million, triggering one of the heaviest liquidation waves since mid-2022 and flushing out both overleveraged longs and shorts. Adding to the downward pressure, whale wallets offloaded around 180 million XRP, mirroring risk-off behavior across the broader crypto sector.

Technically, XRP lost momentum after slipping below $2.24 and briefly testing the $2.20 level amid a heavy-volume 124.4M token spike at 14:00 GMT—an indication of institutional selling rather than retail panic. Still, the larger right-angled ascending broadening wedge originating from the $2.00 zone remains structurally intact, supporting long-term projections toward the $4.50–$7.00 range if the price can regain control of the $2.38 resistance region. Indicators remain mixed, with RSI neutral and MACD flattening, consistent with a market in reaccumulation rather than breakdown.

Price action stabilized overnight as XRP consolidated tightly between $2.20 and $2.21, showing modest recovery attempts toward $2.24 during low-liquidity hours. The key battleground now sits at $2.20; holding this support maintains bullish potential, while a breakdown risks exposing the $1.88–$1.91 demand zone. Traders should watch whether ongoing ETF inflows outweigh whale distribution, how Open Interest evolves after the derivatives flush, and if XRP can reclaim $2.24 to reestablish upward momentum.