Institutional Liquidations Drive XRP Selloff Despite 3% Spike on Powell’s Rate Cut Signal

August 22, 2026 — Institutional selling dominated XRP trading over the August 21–22 period, with roughly 470 million tokens offloaded across major exchanges, triggering a sharp decline in price.

XRP briefly surged 3% following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s Friday remarks that strongly suggested a September rate cut, which also pushed Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies higher. However, the large token selloff quickly brought heavy resistance near $2.92, while delays in XRP ETF approvals and a low security ranking intensified bearish pressure.

News Highlights

• Institutional liquidations accounted for a massive 470 million XRP sold across exchanges during the August 21–22 window, driving the sharp price drop.
• Despite the selloff, on-chain settlement volumes soared by 500% to 844 million tokens on August 18, marking one of the year’s largest adoption spikes.
• The SEC postponed decisions on XRP ETF applications, including Nasdaq’s CoinShares filing, pushing expected rulings to October and adding regulatory uncertainty.
• A recent security assessment ranked the XRP Ledger (XRPL) lowest among 15 evaluated blockchains, raising concerns about network robustness and weighing on sentiment.

Price Action Overview

• XRP fell 3.1% in the 24-hour window from August 21, 13:00 to August 22, 12:00, declining from $2.89 to $2.80.
• Price volatility spanned $0.12 (4.25%), oscillating between a $2.92 intraday high and a $2.80 low.
• The sharpest price action occurred at 19:00 on August 21, where XRP was rejected at $2.92 on 69.1 million volume, confirming significant resistance.
• In the final hour of trading (August 22, 11:24–12:23), XRP dropped 2.5% from $2.82 to $2.80 amid a surge to 7.2 million in volume, confirming bearish momentum.
• Support was found near $2.80–$2.85, although buying interest weakened with each test of this range.

Technical Analysis

• Strong resistance at $2.92 confirmed by 69.1 million volume rejection.
• Support zone between $2.80 and $2.85 holding but showing signs of weakening.
• Volume spiked to 96 million at 11:00 on August 22, signaling continued selling pressure.
• Volatility concentrated in a $0.12 trading range (4.25%).
• Final hour selloff and volume surge reinforce bearish continuation signals.

Key Levels and Market Watch

• Traders are closely watching whether the $2.80 support holds; a break below could accelerate a drop toward $2.75.
• ETF decision updates in October remain critical for institutional flow dynamics.
• Whale accumulation continues on-chain, but price action is yet to reflect underlying adoption growth.
• The $2.92–$3.00 range stands as a key resistance barrier; a breakout above this could trigger a bullish reversal.