XRP jumped to nearly $2.40 on Tuesday, extending its early 2026 rally as traders pointed to heavy institutional volumes and a tighter pool of tokens available on exchanges.
The token rose as much as 11% in 24 hours to around $2.38, breaking through a resistance band that had capped gains for several weeks. The move came on one of XRP’s strongest volume outbursts since mid-December, CoinDesk Analytics data shows.
One reason is flow. Spot XRP ETFs in the US posted $48 million in inflows on Monday, continuing a green for the products, which have not seen a single day of outflows since their November 13 launch.
Several of the products posted their biggest one-day trading volumes on Monday, pushing cumulative inflows past the $1 billion mark in less than two months.
On-chain data shows that XRP held on exchanges has fallen to multi-year lows, a sign that fewer tokens are sitting idle ready to be sold at rallies. Traders often read it as a setup where even modest demand can move the price faster than usual.
The rally is also building on a shift in general market sentiment that started late last week.
Traders have been leaning into the idea that the US regulatory environment is becoming more constructive, particularly after SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw’s exit and continued talk of market structure legislation expected to move in January.
XRP, which for years has traded under a cloud of legal uncertainty, has been one of the clearest beneficiaries of this change in sentiment.
So far, the move is self-sustaining. Breakouts through well-watched levels tend to trigger follow-on purchases by traders who were waiting for confirmation, especially in a market where bitcoin is stable and speculative attention rotates toward the altar of large-caps.
The key question is whether XRP can hold above the previous resistance zone around $2.28 to $2.32. If it does, the market may start looking higher rather than treating the rally as another quick rise.
