Usman Salis
XRP took a beating on Wednesday, dropping 10.34% in its worst daily performance since April 3rd. The selloff was brutal, with most of the damage coming from massive selling on South Korea's biggest crypto exchange, Upbit.
XRP Price Action Echoes April's Market Chaos
This isn't the first time we've seen XRP get hammered this hard. Back on April 3rd, the token crashed 10.39% when U.S. tariff news spooked the entire crypto market. Wednesday's drop ties with February 2nd for the second-worst daily performance of 2024.
The year's biggest bloodbath happened on March 3rd when XRP plunged 18.8%. Even Bitcoin couldn't escape that carnage, falling 9% as tariff fears overshadowed what should've been bullish news about America's strategic crypto reserve.
According to CoinGecko, XRP is now the fifth-worst performer in the top 100 cryptos. Only Celestia (TIA), FLOKI (FLOKI), Worldcoin (WLD), and Aptos (APT) are doing worse right now.
Massive Liquidations Hit XRP Traders Hard
The pain wasn't just in spot prices. CoinGlass data shows a whopping $89.68 million worth of XRP long positions got liquidated in 24 hours. That's a lot of overleveraged traders getting wiped out as the price collapsed.
These forced liquidations created a nasty feedback loop - as prices fell, more positions got closed out automatically, pushing prices even lower. It's the kind of cascade that turns a regular selloff into a proper rout.
Korean Exchange Upbit Flips From Hero to Villain
Here's the kicker: the same South Korean traders who pumped XRP earlier this month just turned around and dumped it. Upbit saw over 75 million XRP tokens sold at market prices in just one day. Talk about a mood swing.
This shows how quickly sentiment can flip in crypto. One day Korean traders are buying everything in sight, the next they're hitting the exits like the building's on fire.
XRP Price Barely Holds $3 Support
XRP came dangerously close to breaking below $3 on Wednesday, but bulls managed to defend that level - barely. The token is currently trading at $3.09 on Bitstamp, down another 3% and looking shaky.
If $3 gives way, things could get ugly fast. The next major support sits around $2.50-$2.70, which would mean even more pain for anyone still holding. Right now, XRP is on track for its second straight red day, and momentum definitely isn't on the bulls' side.
Usman Salis
