The price of XRP has crashed below the critical $3 support level after major holders, often referred to as whales, sold off a massive 160 million tokens over a two-week period. This sell-off, valued at nearly $500 million, exerted significant downward pressure on the asset.
The selling began last week with an initial dump of 40 million XRP (over $120 million) in a single day. Despite this, the price initially held above $3 and even climbed to a one-month high of $3.19 on Saturday. This peak, however, provided whales with a more profitable exit point, leading to accelerated selling in the following days. Blockchain analyst Ali Martinez confirmed the total sell-off, stating, "Large holders saw the price rise and took profit."
The immense selling pressure eventually overwhelmed the market, causing the price to break below the key $3 support. The decline was exacerbated by a broader crypto market pullback. At the time of reporting, XRP was trading below $3, with daily losses of 3.5% and a total decline of over 6.5% from the weekend peak.
This price action defied analyst predictions of a continued rally toward $3.65. The negative sentiment was further fueled by the SEC's continued resistance to approving XRP ETF proposals, creating ongoing regulatory uncertainty that damages investor confidence. On-chain data also revealed a nearly 50% drop in active accounts on the XRP Ledger, indicating a loss of transactional demand and user confidence in a near-term rebound.