XRP struggles at $2.12 as sell pressure intensifies

XRP faced intensified sell pressure on Wednesday as the token attempted but failed to break above the $2.11 resistance zone several times, even though it had reached a 24-hour high of $2.17.

Ripple’s primary token jumped in trading activity above its weekly norms, caused by the participation of larger market participants, yet the additional liquidity did not translate into a sustainable advance.

The token opened Wednesday’s Asian trading session on a positive note, staging a two-step recovery that carried it towards $2.18, a level where sellers took charge and aided a price slump to slightly above $2.09. The market backdrop could mean several traders are letting go of their position more than holders are accumulating.

Institutional activity is on the rise, but momentum stalls

According to market data from CoinGecko, XRP is up 0.9% in the last day and is changing hands at $2.08. Even with that uptick, it trails the broader crypto market, whose market cap has surged by nearly 2.7%, alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum, which have witnessed price uptrends of 2.3% and 6% respectively.

The moderate price advance came on the heels of an increase in trading volume, which reached almost 35% within the past 24 hours. Even though XRP is trading on the green, dropping from the $2.15 level could mean traders started selling for profits, judging the momentum as faint.

The token briefly pierced the $2.12 level and touched $2.16 in the early morning hours of Wednesday, but faced rejection when it clocked $2.17 when larger holders took advantage of the improved liquidity to reduce exposure rather than add to positions.

During the push toward $2.17, volume spiked to nearly double its 24-hour moving average. The size and speed of the increase showed institutions were active in the reversal. Heavy trading interest emerged precisely as XRP approached its intraday high, matching patterns of distribution at elevated levels.

The token then drifted back toward the $2.09–$2.10 range, technical and psychological support zones, absorbing sell orders through the afternoon. Even so, there was little follow-through from buyers who attempted to climb back toward the mid-$2.10s but were thwarted by bears in control of the $2.12 threshold.

Capital flowed into large-cap names Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana during the same window, leaving XRP with fewer supportive inflows. Market desks noted that XRP’s rebound attempts were met with immediate resistance from sellers positioned in advance of the $2.12 area.

On-chain activity the highest in 2025, CryptoQuant analysis shows

At the start of December, CryptoQuant analyst CryptoOnChain reported that the XRP Ledger’s Velocity metric went up to a yearly high of 0.0324. It tracks how frequently coins change hands, and acceleration implied XRP was not sitting idle in long-term storage or cold wallets.

Coins are purportedly moving between participants, a confirmation XRP has entered one of its most active periods in 2025, but it is unclear if the market is entirely bearish.

However, market watcher Dino believes XRP will hold the support zone at $2.03-$2.05, and sell pressure had slowed near the short-term bottom when the Ripple asset briefly bounced back to the $2.10 area.

“Social sentiment is notably positive with 83% bullish signals, but the price remains stuck in the 2.03–2.15 range and has not fully reflected the community’s optimism. To break above 2.15, XRP needs a clearer buying push; if successful, it could target 2.20–2.25. If it fails to break through, the price may revisit 2.03,” the analyst denoted.

According to Dino, traders are looking for a breakout above resistance or a retest of support before making any moves, adding that XRP was “neither strongly bullish nor bearish.”

Away from the spot market, United States XRP spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) net inflows totaled $230 million in the week ending December 5 from all four issuers, with no outflows recorded.

Per data compiled by Finbold from CoinGlass on December 1, flows neared $90 million, including $52 million moving into the Grayscale product and more than $28 million into Franklin’s XRPZ fund.