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XRP’s (XRP) price remains under pressure after another week of losses, but growing whale accumulation and Ripple’s continued expansion of its RLUSD stablecoin ecosystem suggest that the long-term outlook may be more constructive than recent price action implies.
While bearish technical indicators continue to dominate in the short term, institutional developments and large investor positioning indicate that the market may be laying the groundwork for a recovery if broader crypto sentiment improves.
XRP has fallen by nearly 9% over the past week, continuing a prolonged decline that has erased roughly half of the token’s value over the past year.
The token recently broke below a key support zone before retesting it as resistance, reinforcing the bearish market structure.
Technical indicators also remain unfavorable. XRP continues to trade below its 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day exponential moving averages (EMAs), highlighting sustained selling pressure.
Meanwhile, the relative strength index (RSI) is hovering near oversold territory around 33, suggesting momentum remains weak even as selling pressure begins to moderate.
The moving average convergence/divergence (MACD) indicator also remains in negative territory, indicating that bears still control the market.
Derivatives data paints a similarly cautious picture. XRP’s long-to-short ratio has fallen below one, signaling that more traders are betting on further downside than on a recovery. Funding rates have also turned negative, reflecting bearish positioning across perpetual futures markets.
Unless buyers successfully defend the psychological $1.00 support level, XRP could remain vulnerable to additional downside in the near term.
Despite the weak technical backdrop, whale activity tells a different story.
Large investors have recently opened significant leveraged long positions in both XRP and Bitcoin (BTC), signaling confidence that current prices may represent an attractive entry point.
Whale accumulation during periods of market weakness has historically attracted attention because institutional and high-net-worth investors often position themselves before broader market sentiment shifts.
While leveraged positions do not guarantee an imminent rally, they indicate that sophisticated market participants are anticipating a potential reversal rather than preparing for continued heavy selling.
At the same time, XRP spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have continued to record modest inflows, suggesting institutional demand has not completely disappeared. Although recent inflows remain relatively small, sustained accumulation could gradually improve market sentiment if macro conditions stabilize.
Beyond price action, Ripple continues expanding its payments infrastructure through RLUSD, its US dollar-backed stablecoin.
This week, Ripple announced that RLUSD has officially launched in Japan through a partnership with SBI Group following approval from Japan’s Financial Services Agency. The stablecoin will be available to both institutional and retail users through SBI’s VC Trade platform, supporting payments, tokenization, and collateral management.
The launch represents another milestone in Ripple’s strategy of building regulated financial infrastructure across major global markets. Japan has long been one of Ripple’s strongest international markets, making the approval particularly significant for future enterprise adoption.
RLUSD itself has also experienced rapid growth. The stablecoin’s circulating supply has expanded significantly in recent months, with approximately $785 million now circulating on the XRP Ledger. That growth has fueled record liquidity across decentralized exchange pools and automated market maker (AMM) liquidity on the network.
However, RLUSD’s success presents a more nuanced picture for XRP holders.
While the stablecoin has dramatically increased liquidity on the XRP Ledger, much of that activity has not translated into higher demand for XRP itself. Instead, RLUSD appears to be driving settlement and trading efficiency without necessarily requiring significant new purchases of XRP.
This may explain why network activity has continued rising even as XRP’s price has declined. The stablecoin is attracting capital to the ecosystem, but that capital is largely flowing into liquidity pools rather than directly into XRP.
Nevertheless, Ripple’s payment infrastructure still relies on XRP as a bridge asset for many cross-border transactions. If RLUSD adoption continues expanding among banks and financial institutions, increased transaction volume could eventually translate into greater utility for XRP, particularly if payment routing through the XRP Ledger accelerates.
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