The XRP market is experiencing significant bearish pressure, with its price breaking below the crucial $1.30 psychological support level that had held for the past week. As of February 28, 2026, XRP is trading near $1.29, reflecting a 0.96% decline. This move extends a correction phase characterized by collapsing derivatives positioning and accelerating spot outflows.
A sharp 8.49% crash in open interest to $2.15 billion, coupled with an 11.49% surge in trading volume to $5.07 billion, signals forced liquidations rather than voluntary profit-taking. Total liquidations reached $12.76 million, with long positions accounting for the vast majority at $11.85 million. Despite this, leverage remains elevated, as indicated by a long/short ratio of 2.24 for accounts and 2.46 for top traders on Binance.
Market analyst Ether Guru highlights that XRP's daily chart structure has broken key support and is now forming a pattern of lower highs and lower lows, a clear technical sign of sustained downward momentum. The analyst identifies $1.38 as a critical resistance level that must be decisively reclaimed to ease short-term selling pressure and signal a potential bullish reversal. Failure to break above this level keeps the near-term downside target in the $1.05–$1.15 range.
This bearish sentiment is occurring against a broader market backdrop. Notably, a $75 billion market sell-off was reportedly sparked by geopolitical tensions involving the United States and Israel against Iran. Furthermore, XRP ETF inflows reached $2.21 million on February 27, a figure that stands in sharp contrast to the inflows seen for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs on the same day. The market is also influenced by regional dynamics, with South Korea accounting for roughly 33% of global XRP trading volume.
