Payments-focused cryptocurrency XRP is moving fast as bitcoin’s price drop leads to broad-based risk aversion in the crypto market.
XRP has fallen to $1.44, the lowest since November 2024 – the same month President Donald Trump won the US election. Trump campaigned on pro-crypto policies to promote a favorable regulatory environment for digital assets. XRP is used by fintech company Ripple to facilitate cross-border transactions.
While the initial reaction to Trump’s election victory was bullish, the uptrend quickly fell to above $3.50, eventually peaking at $3.65 last July. Since then, XRP has been in a downtrend that has picked up speed in recent weeks.
Support break
The worrying part for bulls is that it is now trading solidly below $1.60, a level where buyers stepped in during the April selloff and stopped the decline at that point. This so-called support was the prominent demand zone and the break below it indicates that the sellers are now in control.
Now a clear air pocket is all the way down to $1.00 as charts reveal little historical support or trading volume between the current price of $1.44 and the psychological bottom.
Bearish bets
And traders appear to be preparing for a deeper selloff. Block flows on leading crypto options exchange Deribit highlighted demand for put spreads, a bearish strategy, and strangles, a bet on volatility booms, in the past 24 hours.
Options are derivative contracts that give the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price at a later date. A put option gives the right to sell and represents a bearish bet on the market, while a call option represents a bullish bet.
