XRP stays at $1.04 as Ledger volume drops 90% from surge

• XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) was trading near US$1.04 following a sharp contraction in XRP Ledger payment volume, which fell approximately 90% from its 7 August 2026 peak of around 614.9 million XRP to levels closer to its recent baseline.
• The August 7 surge fits a recurring pattern observed over the past month on the XRP Ledger, where brief volume spikes are followed by rapid reversals rather than the formation of sustained upward trends in payment activity.
• A single institutional transfer, treasury movement, or exchange reshuffle can produce an unusually large payment volume reading, meaning the 90% headline decline reflects a return from a likely one-off spike rather than a structural collapse in established payment demand.

XRP Ledger history contains similar volatile reversals, with payment volume exceeding one billion XRP on 1 August before falling near 100 million XRP, making peak-to-trough comparisons appear more severe than the broader activity trend suggests.

A structural warning for the network would require sustained low payment activity across an extended observation period, confirmed by transaction counts, active accounts, exchange flows, and stablecoin transfers rather than a single volatile metric.

XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) is trading below its key moving averages whilst sellers maintain a sequence of lower highs, with short-term resistance identified between US$1.075 and US$1.087 and larger moving averages sitting near US$1.185 and US$1.377.

The Relative Strength Index sits near 40, indicating weak demand without yet reaching oversold conditions, suggesting further selling pressure is possible before technical exhaustion emerges.

The US$1.00 level represents the immediate support threshold for XRP (CRYPTO:XRP), with a sustained hold potentially supporting consolidation and another test of US$1.08 to US$1.10, whilst a daily breakdown below US$1.00 would expose the recent US$0.95 to US$0.97 lows.

Ripple raised US$500 million at a US$40 billion valuation in November 2025, with funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities leading the investment, providing a significant institutional funding backdrop.

Ripple's product range has expanded beyond cross-border payments to include custody services, the RLUSD stablecoin, prime brokerage, and corporate treasury services, with the XRP Ledger also targeting tokenised assets, decentralised finance, and an EVM-compatible sidechain.

The wider XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) price forecast spans US$1.10 to US$2.50 over the coming quarters as a conditional scenario, requiring a recovery of nearby moving averages and an end to the current lower-high sequence before the upper boundary becomes achievable.

At the time of reporting, XRP price was $1.04.