XRP traded at USD 1.37 on Wednesday, down 6.61% over the previous 24 hours, making it the steepest decliner among the 10 largest crypto assets. The pullback began shortly after an unwind of leveraged positions stalled last week’s rally.

XRP is the native token of the XRP Ledger, a blockchain built for cross-border payments between financial institutions. The network settles transfers in seconds and is designed to reduce costly intermediary steps for banks. By market capitalization, XRP ranks fifth at USD 86.1 billion. Earlier in the week, the token had risen from around USD 1.00 to an intraday high near USD 1.69, for a four-day gain of roughly 69%. Bitcoin, by comparison, lost 1.36% over the same period and traded at USD 77,993.

From USD 1 to USD 1.69 in four days

On August 18, XRP was still trading near USD 1.00. The US spot ETFs began their current inflow streak on the same day, meaning the rally started alongside the beginning of institutional inflows. In the middle of last week, the price then climbed 14.21% in 24 hours to USD 1.40. That move pushed XRP above both the 50-day and the 200-day EMA, marking the first close above those two averages since the previous “Death Cross” signal.

A death cross occurs when the short-term moving average crosses below the long-term moving average. Many market participants treat it as a bearish signal, so a move back above both averages is often viewed as a counter-signal.

On August 22, XRP reached an intraday high near USD 1.69. Soon after, the rally reversed. Market-wide liquidations totaled USD 1.71 billion over 24 hours and affected 281,846 accounts, or about USD 6,000 per account on average. XRP alone accounted for roughly USD 122 million of those liquidations. The token then fell from around USD 1.70 to about USD 1.51, losing more than 10% in a single day. Even so, most of the advance since August 18 remained intact.

XRP has managed such recoveries at least three times since 2021. In each case, the breakout lasted between four and eleven trading days before the price slipped back below the 200-day average. Many market participants view the 200-day EMA as a dividing line between uptrend and downtrend. Still, it does not imply a fixed price level because the average changes every day. The latest move remains within that familiar range, and it does not support a directional call.

XRP falls harder than Bitcoin and the broader market

Among the 10 largest cryptocurrencies, none fell as sharply as XRP on Wednesday. The token dropped 6.61% to USD 1.37 and at times traded more than 5% below the USD 1.50 level. Bitcoin, in contrast, lost just 1.36%. Ether fell about 2% and moved below USD 2,500, while BNB declined 2.4% and traded below USD 700. The broader crypto market fell a comparatively modest 1.6%.

Such a divergence is common for assets with a large share of leveraged futures positions. Bitcoin had briefly moved above USD 80,000 on Tuesday, but by Wednesday it was trading around USD 78,000. Across the market, liquidations over the past 24 hours exceeded USD 600 million. According to CoinGlass, they were split almost evenly between long and short positions. That means bets on falling prices were also forced out.

By comparison, the August 22 unwind was nearly three times larger at USD 1.71 billion. Both events appear to be part of the same multi-day unwind phase.

The weekly picture is still notable. Over the past seven days, XRP remains up 33.1% despite the setback. Bitcoin rose 18.4% over the same period. Hyperliquid gained 34.7% and gave up only 0.79% on Wednesday. Even after the pullback, XRP is still trading well above its August 18 level.

US spot XRP ETFs record a sixth straight inflow day

The seven US spot XRP ETFs launched only recently, so the comparison base remains limited. Even so, their inflows offer an early gauge of institutional interest beyond Bitcoin and Ether products.

On Tuesday, the funds recorded net inflows of USD 23.87 million, their sixth consecutive trading day of positive flows. The streak began on August 18 with USD 5.81 million, followed by USD 2.35 million, USD 13.24 million and USD 18.38 million. Monday added another USD 13.82 million, while Tuesday marked the strongest day in the sequence. Since the funds began trading, cumulative net inflows have reached USD 1.59 billion. Their net assets stood at USD 1.46 billion at Tuesday’s close, and price changes in the underlying tokens feed directly into those assets.