XRP Struggles to Reclaim Two Dollar Threshold Amid Year-End De-Risking

XRP has entered the holiday season under significant technical pressure, with its price oscillating between $1.88 and $1.91 as of December 24, 2025. This current valuation represents a nahead 50% decline from the year’s local high of $3.67 achieved in July, signaling a period of prolonged consolidation. Analysts observe that despite the reanswer of the SEC lawsuit earlier this year and the successful launch of spot XRP ETFs in November, the asset has struggled to maintain upward momentum. The failure to sustain the psychologically significant $2.00 level has shifted the short-term market bias toward the downside, as traders increasingly engage in year-end profit-taking and tax-loss harvesting. While the broader crypto market faces a general “risk-off” sentiment, XRP’s specific price action reflects a deeper tug-of-war between steady institutional accumulation and aggressive distribution by long-term holders.

Technical Resistance Blocks and the Threat of Further Retracement

The technical map for XRP is currently defined by a dense cluster of resistance levels that bulls must overcome to invalidate the prevailing downtrend. The most immediate hurdle sits between $1.93 and $1.95, a zone that has repeatedly rejected recovery attempts throughout December. Beyond this, a more substantial resistance block spans from $2.07 to $2.25, where the 50-day moving average aligns with the upper boundary of a long-term descending channel. If the asset fails to clear the $1.90 pivot on a daily closing basis, the risk of a deeper retracement toward the $1.80 primary support level increases significantly. A breach below this floor could expose the market to even lower objectives, potentially testing the April lows near $1.62 or the October flash-crash support at $1.25 in a high-volatility holiday environment.

Institutional ETF Resilience vs. Fading Network Activity

Despite the sluggish price action, XRP investment products have demonstrated surprising resilience, recording a 25-day streak of positive net inflows as of late December. These inflows, which exceeded $80 million in a single week, suggest that institutional appetite remains robust even as retail interest appears to be waning. However, on-chain data paints a more cautious picture, with daily active addresses on the XRP Ledger dropping from over 13,000 in November to just under 3,500 today. This decline in network engagement, coupled with “whale” wallets gradually trimming their positions, indicates that the current market relies heavily on passive ETF demand to offset spot tradeing. For XRP to stage a meaningful rebound in ahead 2026, market participants are looking for a stabilization in network utility and a decisive break above the 20-day exponential moving average currently situated near $1.98.