XRP Price Dips Below $3 as Whale Sell-Off and SEC Delay Fuel Market Uncertainty

Ripple’s XRP faced renewed selling pressure this week, dropping 3.68% in the past 24 hours to trade at $2.89 on Wednesday. The decline comes after a rejection at the $3.00 resistance level, as a combination of whale sell-offs, blockchain security concerns, and delayed regulatory decisions weighed heavily on investor sentiment.

On-chain data revealed that large XRP holders, often referred to as whales, offloaded 470 million tokens over the past ten days.

Balances among wallets holding between 10 million and 100 million XRP fell sharply, now standing at approximately 7.63 billion tokens. This mass liquidation coincided with a price drop from $3.39 earlier this month to current levels, leaving smaller investors on edge.

Adding to the uncertainty, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postponed decisions on multiple XRP ETF applications, including Nasdaq’s CoinShares filing, until October.

The delay prolongs regulatory ambiguity at a time when XRP is already battling concerns over a security audit that ranked its ledger lowest among 15 blockchains, further eroding confidence in the asset.

Technical Outlook: XRP Battles for $2.85–$2.90 Support

Price action data shows XRP fell from $3.02 to $2.90 between August 19 and August 20, with the steepest decline occurring during a sharp two-hour sell-off on Tuesday. Trading volume spiked to 137.18 million, nearly double the daily average, signaling institutional repositioning and profit-taking.

Technically, resistance is confirmed at $3.04, where sellers rejected upward momentum with high volume. Meanwhile, buyers have repeatedly defended the $2.85–$2.88 support range, helping stabilize price near $2.89. This zone is now critical for XRP’s short-term survival.

For bulls to regain momentum, XRP must reclaim the $3.19 level, though current selling pressure makes that a steep challenge. A breakdown below $2.85 could trigger deeper losses, with traders eyeing $2.78 as the next key support.

What Traders Should Watch Next

Market participants are closely monitoring whether XRP can flip the $3.00 barrier back into support or if it remains a rejection point. Institutional flows around the $2.85–$2.90 zone will likely dictate whether the cryptocurrency builds a sustainable base or slides further.

Looking ahead, SEC rulings in October will be a major driver of medium-term volatility, while the lingering impact of XRP’s poor security ranking could influence ETF approval prospects.

For now, XRP holders remain cautious, hoping that the whale-driven sell-off represents a healthy correction rather than the beginning of a deeper market downturn.