XRP Faces Heavy Institutional Selling Despite 3% Rally on Powell’s Rate Cut Signal
August 22, 2026 — XRP encountered significant selling pressure as institutions offloaded roughly 470 million tokens across major exchanges between August 21 and 22. This large-scale liquidation overshadowed an initial 3% price gain fueled by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments signaling a potential rate cut in September.
Powell’s dovish remarks lifted Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies, including XRP, briefly pushing prices upward. However, the substantial selloff created strong resistance near $2.92, while regulatory uncertainties and a recent low security ranking for the XRP Ledger weighed on sentiment.
Market Developments
- Institutional liquidations dominated trading, with 470 million XRP tokens sold across exchanges, contributing to a sharp price decline.
- On-chain settlement volumes surged 500% to 844 million tokens on August 18, indicating robust network activity despite price weakness.
- The SEC postponed decisions on XRP ETF filings, including Nasdaq’s CoinShares application, delaying rulings until October and increasing regulatory uncertainty.
- A recent security assessment ranked XRP Ledger lowest among 15 blockchains, raising concerns over network reliability.
Price Action Recap
- XRP declined 3.1% in the 24 hours ending August 22, dropping from $2.89 to $2.80.
- The token fluctuated within a $0.12 range (4.25% volatility), between resistance at $2.92 and support at $2.80.
- The strongest move occurred on August 21 at 19:00 UTC, with XRP rejected at $2.92 on 69.1 million volume, marking firm resistance.
- In the final hour on August 22, XRP fell 2.5% from $2.82 to $2.80 on 7.2 million volume, confirming bearish momentum.
- Support near $2.80–$2.85 held, but buying interest weakened with repeated tests.
Technical Overview
- Resistance at $2.92 was reinforced by high-volume rejection.
- Support zone between $2.80 and $2.85 remains vulnerable amid diminishing demand.
- Volume surged to 96 million on August 22 at 11:00 UTC, highlighting sustained selling pressure.
- Price volatility concentrated within a $0.12 trading band.
- The late-session selloff and volume increase signal ongoing bearish trend.
What Traders Should Watch
- Whether the $2.80 support level can hold; a breakdown could accelerate declines toward $2.75.
- Upcoming ETF rulings in October that may impact institutional flows.
- Whale accumulation patterns and rising on-chain activity, despite muted price gains.
- The $2.92–$3.00 resistance range as a crucial breakout point for a bullish reversal.
