Crypto sentiment is deep in risk-off mode, and the XRP crypto market is grinding lower under key resistance levels even as downside momentum starts to tire.
Daily Timeframe (D1): Macro Bias Is Bearish
Trend Structure & EMAs (20 / 50 / 200)
Data: Close at 1.88, with EMA20 at 2.05, EMA50 at 2.20, and EMA200 at 2.49. Daily regime flag: bearish.
XRP is trading below all three major EMAs, and the 20 and 50 are both above price and pointing down. That is classic downtrend structure: every bounce into the 2.00–2.20 area is currently a candidate for selling rather than the start of a new bull leg. The fact that the EMA200 is way up at 2.49 shows how much longer-term buyers are underwater. Structurally, the path of least resistance is still lower unless the token can reclaim and hold above the 2.05–2.20 band.
RSI (14)
Data: Daily RSI at 33.85.
Momentum is weak but not totally washed out. RSI sitting in the low 30s confirms that the bears have the upper hand, but this is also the zone where prior downmoves tend to tire out. It is not a clean capitulation reading, so you cannot call a bottom just from this. However, it does say the risk/reward of initiating brand-new shorts on the daily chart is less attractive than it was a few days ago. Selling pressure is real, but getting late.
MACD
Data: MACD line -0.07, signal -0.06, histogram -0.01.
MACD is negative and slightly below its signal, which fits the bearish regime. But the spread is tiny and the histogram is close to flat, meaning downside momentum is no longer accelerating. Trend-followers are still in control, yet they are not pressing; this is often the phase where price either starts basing or prepares for a corrective bounce. It is not usually where an entirely new leg down begins unless fresh negative catalysts hit.
Bollinger Bands
Data: Middle band (20 SMA proxy) at 2.07, upper band 2.25, lower band 1.89. Price close at 1.88.
Price is sitting right under the lower daily band, essentially riding the bottom of the volatility envelope. That confirms the downside bias, but the band is not blowing out; it is relatively tight. When price grinds along the lower band in a narrow channel, it often signals a controlled, grinding selloff rather than a panic move. This kind of structure frequently precedes either a volatility expansion down (clean breakdown) or a snapback rally toward the middle band around 2.07. At the moment, the market is still leaning lower but looking a bit compressed.
ATR (14)
Data: Daily ATR at 0.09.
For a token trading around 1.88, a 0.09 daily ATR means moves of roughly 4–5% per day have been typical. That is relatively modest for XRP, which is known to move in 10–20% bursts during strong phases. In other words, this is a relatively calm segment of a downtrend, not a capitulation. Volatility is low enough that large players can accumulate or distribute without too much slippage, so any sudden spike in ATR from here would mark a regime change worth respecting.
Daily Pivot Levels
Data: Pivot point (PP) 1.88, resistance R1 1.90, support S1 1.86.
Price is pinned almost exactly on the daily pivot at 1.88, with the first resistance and support only a couple of cents away. This reflects indecision at a micro level inside a bearish macro structure. For trend traders, sustained trading below 1.86 would confirm continuation risk, while any decisive push above 1.90–1.92 would be the earliest sign that dip-buyers are finally stepping back in with some conviction.
1-Hour Timeframe (H1): Short-Term Bias Still Bearish, But Losing Energy
Trend & EMAs
Data: Close 1.88, EMA20 1.90, EMA50 1.94, EMA200 2.01. Regime: bearish.
On the 1-hour chart, the token also sits below all key EMAs, in line with the daily bias. The 20 EMA is just above price, which tells you the immediate downtrend is shallow and slow rather than vertical. Still, until the pair can reclaim 1.90–1.94 on the hourly, rallies remain short-covering opportunities rather than clean trend reversals. The EMA200 at 2.01 is the bigger line in the sand for any real shift in intraday structure.
RSI (14)
Data: Hourly RSI at 34.83.
Momentum on the 1-hour is weak but not extreme, echoing the daily. Sellers are controlling the tape, but the market is not in a waterfall. RSI hovering in the mid-30s typically aligns with a grind lower or sideways-to-down channel. It leaves room for a relief bounce without changing the broader trend.
MACD
Data: MACD line -0.02, signal -0.03, histogram around 0.
The hourly MACD is slightly negative but basically flat. This confirms that the recent move has lost follow-through. The bears are still ahead on points, but they are no longer landing heavy punches. For active traders, that usually means you either wait for a fresh breakdown to join the trend, or you look for the first higher low and a positive MACD cross as an early signal for a countertrend long.
Bollinger Bands
Data: Mid band 1.89, upper 1.94, lower 1.85. Price at 1.88.
On the hourly, XRP is hovering just under the mid-band, near the center of a relatively narrow band structure. That is the picture of consolidation after a move down: volatility is contracting and price is oscillating inside the band rather than hugging the edges. The market is catching its breath. A clean break above 1.94 with bands widening would favor a corrective push higher, while a drop back toward 1.85 with a lower-band walk would signal the downtrend is reasserting itself.
ATR (14)
Data: Hourly ATR at 0.02.
Hourly ranges of about 1% are modest, again pointing to a controlled tape. There is not much panic or FOMO on either side. If you start seeing multiple hourly candles expanding beyond this range, that is your cue that a new directional impulse is underway.
Hourly Pivot Levels
Data: PP 1.88, R1 1.89, S1 1.87.
Intraday price is coiling directly around its hourly pivot, with R1 and S1 tight on either side. This tells you short-term players are waiting for a lead from the broader market rather than forcing a move on the token alone. Breaks and holds beyond 1.89 or below 1.87 on closing hourly candles will likely dictate the next 4–8 hour swing.
15-Minute Timeframe (M15): Execution Context Only
Trend & EMAs
Data: Close 1.88, EMA20 1.88, EMA50 1.89, EMA200 1.94. Regime: flagged as bearish, but structure is flattening.
On the 15-minute chart, price is sitting right on the 20 EMA, with the 50 just above and the 200 still overhead. Short-term, the trend is flattening out after the prior selloff. This is a typical staging area: either for a continuation leg lower or for a squeeze higher to test intraday resistance. The 1.90–1.92 pocket is your first serious liquidity cluster on this timeframe.
RSI (14)
Data: 15m RSI at 48.81.
Short-term momentum is neutral. The 15-minute chart no longer reflects oversold conditions; it has reset back toward the middle. That makes this timeframe useful for execution, because you are not chasing extremes either way. The next push in RSI away from 50 will likely coincide with the next break of the 1.87–1.89 intraday range.
MACD & Bollinger Bands
Data: MACD line 0, signal 0, histogram 0. Bands: mid 1.88, upper 1.90, lower 1.86. Price 1.88.
The 15-minute MACD is completely flat, and price is sitting dead center in tight Bollinger Bands. The market is marking time. That is consistent with the bigger picture: the strong move already happened, and traders are now waiting for a catalyst. From an execution standpoint, this is the kind of environment where breakout entries around the edges of the 1.86–1.90 mini-range make more sense than random entries in the middle.
15-Minute Pivot
Data: PP 1.88, R1 1.88, S1 1.88 (effectively flat).
The 15-minute pivot set being essentially the same as price just reinforces how balanced the microstructure is. Very short-term, XRP is in a holding pattern.
XRP Dominant Market Force: Risk-Off, With Room for a Short Squeeze
Big picture, the XRP crypto market is trading under the shadow of a broader risk-off move in digital assets. Overall market cap is down about 4% on the day, Bitcoin dominance is high, and sentiment is extremely fearful. In that environment, capital tends to crowd into BTC and stablecoins, not alts like XRP. That is the main reason the daily bias remains bearish.
At the same time, multiple signals show that this is not the start of a fresh crash but more likely the maturation of an existing downtrend:
- Daily and hourly RSI are weak but not collapsing.
- MACD on both timeframes is negative but flattening.
- ATR is relatively low; volatility is contained.
- Price action is consolidating near the lower daily Bollinger Band instead of free-falling beneath it.
That mix creates a tension: the structural trend is down, but momentum is tired. In practice, that often translates into one of two outcomes over the next sessions. Either a controlled continuation lower into fresh support levels, or a sharp mean-reversion bounce that punishes late shorts before the bigger trend decides what is next.
Scenario Map for XRP crypto market
Bullish Scenario
For bulls, the first job is to turn this from a grind into a bounce. That starts with reclaiming short-term structure.
- On the intraday side, XRP crypto market needs to break and hold above 1.90–1.92 on the 1-hour chart. Ideally this happens with hourly closes above R1 and the mid Bollinger band, and a turn in MACD back above zero. That would signal that buyers finally have the upper hand in the short term.
- From there, the next upside checkpoint is the EMA20 on the daily at 2.05. A daily close above 2.05 would be the first real evidence of a momentum shift rather than just a dead-cat bounce.
- If the move has legs, a squeeze toward the 2.20 region (daily EMA50) is realistic. That is where medium-term shorts are likely to defend again, and where you would expect volatility to spike as both sides fight it out.
This bullish scenario is more about mean reversion than a full-blown new uptrend. It leans on the idea that positioning has become one-sided in a fear-driven market, with MACD flattening and RSI near the lower bound. It becomes notably more likely if the broader crypto market stabilizes, with BTC holding up and total market cap stopping the bleed.
What invalidates the bullish scenario?
A clean breakdown below 1.86 on the daily close would seriously damage the near-term bull case. If price starts walking down the lower daily Bollinger Band with ATR picking up, that would tell you the expected squeeze failed and the downtrend is re-accelerating instead of mean-reverting.
Bearish Scenario for XRP crypto market
The bearish side has the trend and the macro tape on its side.
- As long as the pair trades below the 2.05–2.20 daily resistance zone (EMA20 and EMA50 cluster), the bigger picture remains a downtrend. Rallies up into that band are potential selling zones for trend-followers.
- On a more tactical level, if price fails to sustain above 1.90 intraday and instead breaks down through 1.86 with expanding hourly ranges, indicated by ATR ticking up from 0.02 and hourly RSI pushing back into the low 30s or below, it opens the door to a deeper leg lower. That could pull the pair further away from the daily lower Bollinger Band, turning this cooling phase into a renewed impulse down.
- A continuation move would likely be accompanied by daily MACD widening to the downside again, with the histogram turning more decisively negative. In that scenario, each attempt to bounce back to the 1.90–1.95 area gets sold.
What invalidates the bearish scenario?
A sustained recovery above the daily EMA20 at 2.05 would be the first real threat to the prevailing bearish regime. If XRP closes a daily candle above 2.05 and then holds that level as support on subsequent dips, the sell-the-rally playbook loses its edge. A follow-through break over the EMA50 at 2.20 would essentially neutralize the bearish bias and force a reassessment toward a more balanced or even bullish stance.
Positioning, Risk, and Uncertainty about XRP crypto market
The current XRP crypto market setup is a textbook example of a late-stage downtrend inside a risk-off macro backdrop. The daily trend is down and still respected by most indicators, but the energy behind the move is fading. That combination tends to punish traders who chase the last part of the move in either direction.
Shorts are trading with the wind at their backs structurally, but they are leaning into a market where volatility is compressed and momentum is no longer accelerating. That is fertile ground for sharp squeezes if price finally breaks above nearby intraday resistance. On the other side, early longs are betting on mean reversion against a clearly bearish daily chart and a fearful, Bitcoin-dominated macro environment. They need very tight risk controls and clear invalidation levels.
Regardless of bias, the key in this phase is respecting the levels rather than the narratives: 1.86 and 1.90 intraday for the next move, 2.05 and 2.20 on the daily for any serious regime change. Volatility is currently contained, but it will not stay that way forever. When ATR starts expanding and price breaks out of this tight range, the next strong leg, up or down, is likely underway.
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Disclaimer: This analysis is for informational and educational purposes only and reflects a technical view of the XRPUSDT market based on the data provided. It is not investment, trading, or financial advice, and it does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation, or needs. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile and risky; always do your own research and consider your risk tolerance before making any trading decisions.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2025/12/16/xrp-crypto-market-analysis/


