$XRP price slipped 2.8% over the past seven days and briefly fell below the psychological $1 level as weak daily momentum, persistent capital outflows, and a broader downtrend kept buyers on the defensive.
$XRP price action today
According to data from crypto.news, $XRP ($XRP) price was trading around $1.00 on Aug. 17 after briefly falling below the level during the latest sell-off. The token has now lost about 73% from its cycle high above $3, according to market analyst Crypto Patel, while the daily chart continues to produce lower highs and lower lows.
$XRP: The Bearish Call They Ignored… Until It Dumped 73%
— Crypto Patel (@CryptoPatel) August 17, 2026
Back in July 2025, when most of the market expected higher prices, I warned that #$XRP was losing bullish structure and advised taking profits above $3.
Today:
✅ ~73% down from the cycle top
✅ ~53% below the confirmed… https://t.co/AGHdYcGmRI pic.twitter.com/5aQcBCl6ff
The decline accelerated during the first half of August as $XRP fell from approximately $1.14 to a low near $0.98. A short recovery subsequently returned the price to $1.00, but buyers have yet to secure a sustained daily close above nearby resistance.
$XRP’s struggle around $1 follows a wider retreat that began after the token traded above $2 in January. It fell sharply to approximately $1.40 in February, consolidated through May, and then resumed its decline in June.
The latest breakdown has placed the token at one of its most important psychological levels. A daily close below $1 would confirm that sellers can keep the price beneath a zone that previously attracted buyers, while a quick recovery could turn the move into a false breakdown.
Lower market participation has added to the pressure. With fewer buyers absorbing sell orders, relatively modest selling can produce wider price swings around the $1 threshold.
Daily indicators keep $XRP under pressure
$XRP remains below the middle line of its daily Bollinger Bands, which stands near $1.037. The middle band acts as a short-term trend gauge, meaning the token must reclaim it before the chart can show an early improvement in momentum.
The upper Bollinger Band sits near $1.099, creating a wider resistance zone between $1.04 and $1.10. $XRP has not traded above the upper end of that area since early August, when an attempt to hold around $1.14 failed.
The lower band is positioned at approximately $0.975. Price is currently pressing against this side of the range, showing that the market remains stretched toward the downside. Lower-band contact can precede a temporary bounce, but it does not confirm that the wider decline has ended.
Chaikin Money Flow on the daily chart stands at -0.17. A reading below zero indicates that selling volume has outweighed buying volume during the indicator’s 20-session measurement period.
Persistent negative money flow weakens the case for a durable recovery because rallies are receiving limited support from fresh capital. $XRP would need the indicator to move back toward zero, alongside a recovery above $1.037, to provide stronger evidence that accumulation has returned.
4-hour $XRP chart shows an early bounce attempt
The 4-hour chart offers a slightly more constructive signal. $XRP was trading around $1.001 while its Chaikin Money Flow reading had risen to 0.09, suggesting that some buyers entered near the latest lows.
$XRP price has also moved marginally above the Ichimoku conversion line near $0.998 and the baseline around $1.000. Those levels show that very short-term momentum has stabilized after the recent decline.
However, $XRP remains below the main Ichimoku cloud, with its upper boundary near $1.017. The cloud has also continued to slope downward, maintaining the bearish structure visible since late July.
A 4-hour close above $1.017 would provide the first meaningful sign that buyers are regaining control. The next resistance levels would then sit near $1.037 and $1.05, followed by the daily upper Bollinger Band around $1.10.
Failure to clear the cloud could leave $XRP trapped between $0.99 and $1.02. Another rejection near $1.01–$1.02 would increase the risk of renewed pressure on the August low.
Liquidation heatmap places $0.98 at risk
CoinGlass’ three-day liquidation heatmap shows a dense concentration of leveraged positions immediately above $XRP’s current price. The strongest nearby upside pool is located around $1.011, with additional liquidity near $1.02.
Price often moves toward areas containing large volumes of leveraged positions because liquidations can increase volatility once those levels are reached. A move through $1.011 could therefore trigger short liquidations and help $XRP test $1.02.
The downside also contains several liquidity pockets. The clearest cluster sits near $0.98, close to the daily lower Bollinger Band at $0.975. Further concentrations appear around $0.96, although they are less immediate.
A decisive loss of $0.99 could expose the $0.98–$0.975 region and force leveraged long positions to close. If buyers fail to defend that range, $XRP could extend its decline toward $0.96.
The heatmap leaves the token between competing liquidity pools, making $1.011 the immediate upside level and $0.98 the main downside target.
Analysts disagree over whether $XRP has reached a bottom
Crypto Patel said $XRP could fall another 20% to 40% before forming a major reversal. The analyst identified $0.85–$0.65 as a long-term accumulation range but said capital should be deployed gradually rather than used to catch an exact bottom.
Such a decline would require $XRP to break the current $0.975 support and extend below the lower liquidity areas shown on the three-day heatmap. The analyst’s longer-term targets of $3, $5, $7, and $10 depend on a future reversal confirmation and are not supported by the current daily trend.
Analyst Gerla offered a more constructive interpretation, arguing that $XRP is testing a long-term trendline while forming a bullish divergence on the relative strength index. A bullish divergence occurs when the price records a lower low while momentum produces a higher low, sometimes preceding a recovery.
The competing forecasts make confirmation around $1 more important than either projection. For US investors, the immediate setup remains tied to liquidity and broader risk appetite: reclaiming $1.037 would weaken the bearish case, while a daily close below $0.975 would expose $0.96 and potentially the analyst’s $0.85 accumulation level.