XRP’s $1.35 Reclaim Is Failing as Whales and Holders Bail Together

XRP (XRP) price is stuck near $1.31 inside a falling channel, unable to reclaim a single level that has capped key recovery attempts.

Beneath the surface, the two largest whale cohorts and long-term holders all cut their stash this weekend, leaving the token’s next move resting on whether buyers can take back one critical line.

Price Slides in a Falling Channel as Whales Cut Exposure

XRP has traded inside a falling channel since mid-February, a pattern where price grinds lower between two downward-sloping parallel lines while printing lower highs. Price has crept back toward the channel’s midline after a recent drop, yet reclaiming that midline alone would not turn the structure bullish.

Want more token insights like this? Sign up for Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Crypto Newsletter here.

Now the key levels come into focus. XRP price must reclaim the 20-day exponential moving average (EMA), a trend line that weights recent prices more heavily, sitting near $1.35. History shows why it matters. When XRP lost the 20-day EMA on May 16, it corrected roughly 11%. When it reclaimed the line in early May, price rose nearly 11%. This makes this technical line a critical pivot point.

Yet, the bigger warning sits in XRP whale behavior. The two largest cohorts both trimmed holdings starting May 31, suggesting they expect a weak June.

The 100 million to 1 billion XRP cohort cut its share from 11.54% to about 9.9%, a sharp drop. The smaller 10 million to 100 million cohort eased from 17.61% to 17.36%.

Both moving lower at once points to inherent weakness rather than a single seller. That selling raises the question of whether anyone is stepping in to absorb it.

Holders Cut Stash as Accumulation Signal Weakens

The picture does not improve among longer-term owners. The Hodler Net Position Change, a metric that tracks whether mid-to-long-term holders are net adding or shedding coins, dropped hard this weekend.

The reading fell from roughly 268.4 million XRP on May 30 to about 216.6 million XRP a day later, a steep 19% one-day decline that suggests distribution rather than accumulation.

With whales and holders both reducing exposure at the same time, the buy-side support needed for a clean recovery looks thin. XRP exchange outflows elsewhere hint at some accumulation, but that demand has not yet shown up in price. That leaves the XRP price chart to settle whether the weakness deepens or stalls.

XRP Price Levels to Watch as the 20-Day EMA Reclaim Stalls

The critical 20-day EMA level closely aligns with the 0.618 Fibonacci level at $1.348 (the $1.35 zone).

A move above $1.35, a gain of about 2.6%, opens the path toward $1.38 (50-day EMA), then $1.42 and $1.47. A push over $1.55 would flip the bias bullish. On the downside, XRP must hold $1.29 and $1.26. The immediate risk sits at $1.29, just 1.45% below current price, and losing $1.26 exposes $1.22.

For now, $1.35 separates a double-digit recovery from a slide back toward $1.22.