XRP and Bitcoin Hover at Critical Support as Nasdaq Signals Caution

XRP and Bitcoin are trading near pivotal levels, while Nasdaq’s November price action raises the risk of a broader pullback.

Payments-focused cryptocurrency XRP has dropped more than 6% this week, testing the critical $2 support level. Since last December, this zone has acted as a bear fatigue area — a level where selling pressure tends to ease, as evidenced by the lower wicks on several weekly candles.

The implication is clear: if $2 support fails, disappointed holders may exit en masse, triggering a sharper, extended decline. For now, prices are holding, but for XRP’s outlook to turn bullish, it must overcome the descending trendline connecting lower highs since July, currently near $2.50.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin hovers near what may be the most important support cluster in years: a combination of the bullish trendline tracing higher lows through 2023–2024, the 100-week simple moving average (SMA), and the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement from the late-2022 bear market bottom to the recent all-time high of just over $126,000.

If this support breaks, traders will likely turn attention to April’s swing low near $74,500, followed by the 2021 bull-market peak just below $70,000. Some market participants are already preparing for sub-$80,000 BTC in the early days of 2026.

On the upside, Bitcoin bulls need to reclaim the 50-week SMA, currently above $102,252, to signal that the broader bull trend remains intact — a challenge, given the technical headwinds.

Adding to the caution, Nasdaq has formed a classic “hanging man” candlestick on the monthly chart, signaling emerging selling pressure and potential trend exhaustion. This pattern — a small real body near the top of the candle, a long lower shadow at least twice the body’s length, and little or no upper shadow — typically warns of a pause or reversal when appearing at record highs. Historically, both Bitcoin and tech stocks tend to move in sync, raising the stakes for cryptocurrency bulls.

With XRP and Bitcoin teetering at knife-edge supports and Nasdaq showing signs of weakness, traders face a tense setup. The widely anticipated Santa rally in tech stocks and cryptocurrencies may be at risk of underwhelming this year.