XRP, the cryptocurrency closely associated with payments firm Ripple and one of the largest digital assets by market value, has slipped to around $1.45 after the $1.55 breakout level gave way before buyers could establish it as support. The pullback reached an intraday low of $1.43, attention has now shifted to the $1.35–$1.40 zone as the next significant demand pocket, and open interest — the total value of futures contracts still outstanding on derivatives exchanges — has cooled slightly as excess leverage leaves the market. Today's daily close is expected to indicate whether the correction extends further.

$1.55 Support Fails After Spike to $1.70

In yesterday's XRP analysis, $1.55 was identified as the line in the sand. The level marked the old May swing high — the exact spot bulls needed to defend in order to keep momentum rolling toward $1.70.

They barely had a chance to try. After a brief spike to $1.70, XRP slipped back under $1.55 instead of building a base above it. Price action bottomed at an intraday low of $1.43 before stabilizing around $1.45 at the time of writing. With that move, the market dropped back below the breakout checkpoint and began hunting for fresh liquidity.

The pullback comes with context. CoinGlass data shows XRP down roughly 9% over 24 hours, yet still sitting on a 45% gain for the week. A sharp correction following a sprint of more than 60% is characteristic crypto market behavior, according to the analysis, and only becomes problematic if buyers abandon the lower levels that matter entirely.

$1.35–$1.40 Is the Next Stress Test

The initial bounce near $1.43–$1.45 is described as a knee-jerk reaction rather than a confirmed base. If sellers maintain pressure, the $1.35–$1.40 band represents the next area of focus. That zone functioned as a heavily traded price shelf throughout April and May, giving it considerably more technical weight than a round psychological number.

The analysis lays out two paths from that region. A controlled slide into $1.35–$1.40, followed by a daily close back above it, would give XRP room to digest its advance. From there, bulls could regroup and attempt to reclaim $1.55 before setting their sights on $1.70 once more.

A daily close below $1.35–$1.40, however, would shift the outlook. At that point, the 200-day moving average near $1.27 — a long-term trend benchmark derived from 200 days of closing prices and one of the most widely followed averages in technical analysis — would become the primary safety net, backed by the 100-day average at $1.15 and the 50-day average down near $1.09.

Derivatives Cool, but Futures Still Dominate

The futures market appears somewhat healthier than it did at the peak. Open interest dropped from roughly $3.87 billion to about $3.53 billion — a purge of approximately 9% that suggests some of the froth has been cleared out. Declining open interest generally reflects contracts being closed out, voluntarily or through liquidation, rather than fresh positions being added.

That should not be mistaken for calm waters. CoinGlass figures show XRP futures recorded $11.99 billion in 24-hour volume, compared with $2.99 billion in spot turnover. Derivatives traders are out-trading the cash market by a factor of four, an imbalance the analysis links to the potential for sudden whiplash in either direction. When leveraged futures dwarf spot turnover, forced liquidations can compound price moves as cascading positions are closed at market — the dynamic that makes the futures-to-spot ratio a standard gauge of how leverage-driven a market has become.

Two conditions frame the near-term picture: if support holds while open interest stays low, the pullback amounts to a healthy reset; but if speculators pile fresh leverage back in before $1.55 is safely recovered, the market could be positioned for another sharp flush.

Today's Close May Tell the Story

The daily RSI — a momentum oscillator scaled from 0 to 100, with readings above 70 conventionally read as overbought — is still hovering above 85, a signal that XRP remains extended even after the sell-off. According to the analysis, that does not guarantee a deeper collapse, but it does make a straight return to all-time highs unlikely.

The roadmap from here is straightforward. Holding $1.43–$1.45 keeps further losses to a minimum; a deeper dip that finds willing buyers at $1.35–$1.40 keeps the broader recovery intact; and a decisive daily reclaim of $1.55 would indicate that the failed support test was only a temporary fakeout.

XRP now sits in the phase of an extended rally where the market must demonstrate that real demand persists after momentum-driven traders have locked in their profits. Tonight's close could determine whether this is a standard shakeout or the start of a much wider unwinding.

This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.