XRP Risks Decline to $0.98 if Whale Distribution Persists

Major $XRP players have begun a coordinated unloading of wallets, which risks leaving the market without support in the face of a deep correction. Well-known analyst Ali Martinez has made public fresh metrics from the Santiment platform, according to which the systematic exit of "whales" puts the resilience of current price boundaries at risk.

If big capital continues to get rid of tokens, the $XRP price will inevitably lose its footing and crash to the $0.98 mark.

How 12 wallets may decide the nearest fate of a token

At the core of this scenario lies the dry mathematics of blockchain data. Over recent weeks, the number of wallets with balances from 10 million to 100 million $XRP thinned from 351 to 339 addresses. The synchronous retreat of twelve market heavyweights deprives the coin of the fundamental safety cushion that previously dampened any price drawdowns.

In parallel, a massive inflow of liquidity to trading platforms has been recorded: the total $XRP balance on exchanges jumped from 11.003 billion to 11.05 billion tokens. The additional 50 million coins that have accumulated in exchange order books have formed a heavy supply overhang, ready to push the market down at the slightest deterioration of the external backdrop.

On the 4-hour timeframe, $XRP is holding around $1.30, balancing on the very edge of the ascending price channel that buyers have continuously defended since August. Pressure from profit-taking giants has pressed quotes right up against the trend line, turning the $1.26 level into the main operational frontier of this autumn.

The token's further trajectory depends on whether this level withstands the onslaught of sellers:

• Holding the $1.26 level: Will allow buyers to fully absorb current volumes, stabilize the price within the $1.30–$1.43 corridor and preserve the chances of a repeat assault on the local peak at the $1.62 level.

• Breakdown of the $1.26 level: Will trigger a cascading execution of buyers' protective stop orders, where the bears' first target will be the intermediate support level at the $1.11 mark, and if it is pierced, the downward impulse will unfold in full force to the final channel projection at the ... mark, where the asset will go into prolonged consolidation.

Any attempt to stabilize the price now directly depends on buyers' readiness to buy up volumes at these key price marks.