XRP price was on the verge of breaking through after several days of rise, but a potential rally was interrupted by FUD due to a massive unlock.
Ripple's management tried to calm the situation, but their explanations were insufficient to save the XRP price amid weekend volatility.
Ripple Unlocks 1 Billion XRPโฆWhat You Need to Know
After Ripple released 1 billion tokens from escrow on Saturday, FUD spread throughout the XRP community.
According to whale alerts, Ripple's escrow unlocked 500 million, 100 million, and 400 million XRP tokens, which amounts to three transactions worth $3.28 billion.
These tokens were held in escrow as part of a 2017 protocol to stabilize market supply. These transactions drew attention amid speculation of continued selling pressure.
"They want you to buy XRP while they are selling," wrote popular X user CFA Rajat Soni.
Soni's statement implied that Ripple is manipulating the escrow release schedule. Meanwhile, XRP price had been showing an upward trend. This was due to a positive ruling in the long-standing lawsuit between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In this context, Ripple CTO David Schwartz explained the escrow release as routing activity while addressing the FUD.
"They always release at the beginning of the month. Just because escrow is released doesn't necessarily mean ledger activity is visible. The ledger does nothing by itself and always waits for someone to submit a transaction to trigger it," Schwartz explained.
Community members pointed out that Ripple's escrow accounts have been randomly releasing multiple contracts over the past two months.
Nevertheless, Ripple's escrow system remains a long-standing topic of debate, with the company holding a substantial amount of XRP through contractual agreements. XRPscan data shows that approximately 35.6 billion XRP remains in escrow even after the August 9th release.
"...can Ripple manipulate the escrow contract release date at any time? Theoretically, can they release the entire 36 billion XRP in the next 5 minutes?" a user asked.
Ripple's escrow contract releases up to 1 billion XRP monthly, a system designed to avoid excessive market supply.
This system helps maintain the XRP price, being structural and predictable, though individual transactions marked on the XRP ledger particularly impact the market.
Ripple Price OutlookโฆWhat Are XRP Bulls and Bears Positioning?
Analysts say XRP price might be prepared to break through at higher time frames. However, Ripple price is stabilizing on the daily timeframe before the next movement, with buyers already positioning themselves.
Based on the volume profile of the uptrend (blue), buyers are waiting to interact with Ripple price between the demand zones of $2.9611 and $2.7354. This suggests a potential 5% to 7% further decline.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is also declining, indicating dropping momentum. If the immediate support at $3.1061 is not maintained, XRP price could drop until buyers intervene at the previously mentioned levels, with the demand zone providing substantial support.
Conversely, if buying pressure increases above the current level, XRP price could resume its upward trend, potentially overwhelming the selling pressure (red volume profile).
However, the supply zone between $3.4000 and $3.5493 is exerting upward pressure, so buyers looking to take a long position in XRP should wait for a candlestick close above the average threshold or midline of $3.4687.
A candlestick close above this level on the daily timeframe could promote further increase and set the stage for Ripple price to reclaim its peak of $3.6607. This movement would represent a 7% rise from the current level.
