Over the Aug. 31–Sept. 1 window XRP moved between $2.70 and $2.84, with a strong intraday rebound supported by heavy on-chain flows and sizeable whale buys. Market activity shows short-term resistance near $2.82–$2.84 even as large holders accumulated, suggesting a battle between institutional demand and retail selling pressure.
Price action was volatile: a late Aug. 31 sell-off pushed XRP from $2.80 to $2.70 before a morning Sept. 1 recovery lifted the token back toward $2.82 on unusually high volume. On-chain data indicate roughly 164 million tokens changed hands during the rebound session and whales added about 340M XRP over two weeks, underlining persistent accumulation despite a broadly weak seasonal backdrop for crypto in September.
Intraday data show a sharp sell-off at 23:00 GMT on Aug. 31 when XRP fell from $2.80 to $2.77 on roughly 76.87M volume, nearly three times the daily average. Later, final-hour consolidation (10:20–11:19 GMT) saw a 0.71% slip from $2.81 to $2.79, with intense selling between 10:31–10:39 that reached about 3.3M tokens per minute, reinforcing the $2.80–$2.81 rejection area.
Technically, the market is compressed. The near-term floor at $2.70–$2.73 has been defended repeatedly, while the $2.80–$2.84 band acts as clear rejection. Momentum indicators are lukewarm—RSI sits in the mid-40s—and MACD remains in a compression phase, so traders should expect range-bound action until a decisive breakout. A sustained move above $2.84 would open targets of $3.00–$3.30; failure below $2.70 could expose the next structural support near $2.50.
What market participants are watching is simple: whether whale accumulation can outweigh retail and algorithmic selling. If $2.70 holds, short-term traders may use it as a base to re-test resistance; if it breaks, stop-loss cascades could accelerate downside. The symmetrical triangle pattern and shrinking volatility mean any breakout could be sharp when it comes.
Risk note: This analysis is market commentary and not investment advice. Crypto markets are volatile; appropriate position sizing and risk management are essential. Historical seasonal trends (September weakness) provide context but are not guarantees.
Source: CoinDesk. Read the original coverage for full details.