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XRP’s price action in recent days has led to speculations among crypto traders over whether it could fall below the $2 support zone and how deep any pullback might go before a bottom is established. 

Popular XRP analyst Zach Rector addressed this concern shared by many market participants during an interview on the Paul Barron Podcast as to how low XRP could realistically fall before buyers step in and whether a return to the $1 level is still possible under current conditions.

Zach Rector Says $1 XRP Is Virtually Impossible

Inflows into Spot XRP ETFs have been largely offset by selling pressure on centralized exchanges, keeping the cryptocurrency range-bound just above $2 even as long-term demand builds in the background. This range-bound trading has left the cryptocurrency at risk of losing $2 and breaking further downwards. The question now is whether this downward risk can cause the XRP price to return to $1. 

Addressing the question from Paul Barron directly, Zach Rector stated that an XRP price move back to $1 is effectively off the table under normal market conditions. He presented such a scenario as something that would only occur in the event of an extraordinary black swan. Current market structure, liquidity depth, and buyer behavior do not support the XRP price falling as low as that level.

According to Rector, XRP’s order book on crypto exchanges is now populated by a large base of passive buyers with limit orders already positioned well above $1. He also used his own trade orders to illustrate why he believes XRP is forming a higher long-term floor. 

He acknowledged entering an XRP long above $3.40 earlier in the year and confirmed that the position is still underwater. However, he explained that he has consistently dollar-cost averaged lower, bringing his average entry down to around $2.23. Keeping this in mind, Rector predicted a price low to watch out for before the XRP price bounces.

Higher Lows Says Support Is Between $1.90 And $1.80

XRP’s price structure over the past year points to a market that is gradually building strength rather than breaking down. Rector pointed to XRP’s price chart on Coinbase, which shows the creation of a sequence of higher lows, with price bottoming near $1.60 in April, recovering to form a higher low around $1.77 on October 10, and then holding even higher at approximately $1.81 in November.

That pattern is why the $1.90 to $1.80 range is viewed as the most realistic downside zone if XRP breaks below $2 and selling pressure resumes. According to Rector, a dip below $1.90 could open the door for a brief test of $1.80, and this is as low as the XRP price might go before a bounce. Such a move would still fit within the broader higher-low structure that has defined XRP’s price action throughout the year.

Ethereum is down $137.21 today or 4.45% to $2945.00

• Lowest 5 p.m. level since Dec. 1, 2025, when it traded at $2791.51
• Largest percentage decrease since Dec. 12, 2025, when it dropped 5.22%
• Down four of the past five days
• Down two consecutive days, down 5.39% over this period
• Down 2.52% month-to-date
• Down 11.95% year-to-date
• Down 40.57% from its all-time intraday high of $4955.23 on Aug. 24, 2025
• Down 27.29% from 52 weeks ago (Dec. 16, 2024), when it traded at $4050.30
• Up 108.83% from its 52-week intraday low of $1387.85 on April 9, 2025
• Traded as low as $2898.25; lowest intraday level since Dec. 2, 2025, when it hit $2784.43
• Down 5.97% at today's intraday low

Note: The Ethereum price is a 5 p.m. ET snapshot from Kraken

Data compiled by Dow Jones Market Data

XRP is at the center of the institutional flows, leading the crypto market in streaks of capital inflows even as its price is locked around $2. Recent data shows that money is still entering into Spot XRP ETF products, but despite this steady demand and a clear shift toward bullish sentiment across social platforms, XRP’s spot price has struggled to break higher, and this raises questions as to why inflows and price action appear out of sync.

Spot XRP ETFs Are Seeing Relentless Institutional Demand

Institutional appetite for XRP has been especially visible through Spot XRP exchange-traded funds. These products have now logged 19 days of uninterrupted inflows, with a fresh capital of $20.17 million added again on Friday. 

The latest figures from SoSoValue show that these inflows pushed cumulative inflows to $990.91 million, close to the $1 billion mark. Assets under management have also continued to rise, now sitting well above the $1 billion threshold at $1.18 billion. To put this into perspective, Spot Ethereum ETFs ended last week with $19.41 million of outflows

This pattern points to deliberate and sustained accumulation of XRP. Institutions appear comfortable building exposure to XRP gradually, taking advantage of its deep liquidity and regulated access through ETF structures.

Bullish Social Sentiment Has Not Yet Translated To Price

Another notable trend with XRP is that sentiment among retail participants has turned increasingly optimistic in the past few days. Data from market intelligence firm Santiment, which monitors discussions across platforms including X, Telegram, Reddit, and Discord, points to a noticeable increase in positive commentary surrounding the altcoin over the past week.

Santiment data shows that XRP has ranked among the most positively discussed assets of the year, much higher than Ethereum. This increase in positive sentiment has been characterized by traders expressing confidence as the price continues to hold above $2. Particularly, Santiment data shows that last week was the seventh most bullish sentiment week of 2025 for XRP.

Retail Staying Optimistic Toward XRP. Source: Santiment

Under normal conditions, this combination of strong inflows and improving sentiment would typically suggest a bullish setup. However, sentiment alone does not move markets, and XRP has been range-bound around $2. 

The most important thing is the difference between buying and selling pressure. The lack of bullish price action means that persistent sell-side activity from existing holders has been sufficient to absorb incoming demand, and this has kept XRP’s price constrained even as accumulation quietly builds. 

The same dynamic applies to ETF flows. Although Spot XRP ETFs have posted inflows for 19 consecutive days, the daily figures are relatively modest. Inflows would need to expand into the hundreds of millions of dollars on a consistent basis for these products to reflect in the XRP price. The strongest signal of improving sentiment right now is XRP’s ability to hold above $2 in the next few trading sessions, rather than any decisive breakout to the upside.

Bitcoin prices extended their decline this week, dragging closely correlated equities lower and pushing shares of Strategy (MSTR) down sharply during regular trading hours.

Yet even as the stock slid more than 7% in a single session, one of the largest public pension funds in the United States quietly increased its exposure.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund, which manages roughly $284 billion in assets reportedly its position in Strategy, a Nasdaq-listed company widely viewed as an equity proxy for Bitcoin exposure.

JUST IN: $284 billion U.S. New York State Retirement Fund increased its position in treasury company Strategy to $50 million. — BitcoinTreasuries.NET (@BTCtreasuries) Strategy Drops 7% on $2.3B Volume as Bitcoin Sell-Off Deepens

The move came as Strategy shares fell to $163.55 by 13:56 EST on December 15, 7.29% on the day. Trading activity was heavy, with $2.32 billion in value changing hands across nearly 14 million shares.

The stock moved between an intraday high of $176.50 and a low of $160.54, placing its market capitalization at $50.7 billion. Source:

Strategy currently has 287.35 million shares outstanding, with 267.03 million in circulation, and trades at a basic mNAV of 0.88.

The decline mirrors renewed pressure in the broader crypto market. Bitcoin was trading around $86,214, down 3.5% over the past 24 hours, 4.4% over the past week, and more than 10% over the past month.Source: Cryptonews

The pullback followed a steep correction from Bitcoin’s recent peak above $126,000, a move that has weighed heavily on companies with direct balance-sheet exposure to the asset.Repeat Buyer Signal: New York State Pension Fund Continues Expanding Its Position

New York State fund raised its stake during the second quarter of 2025 and another increase in a November filing covering third-quarter positions.

At that point, the fund owned approximately 0.10% of Strategy, valued at about $113.8 million.

The New York State fund is one of the largest public retirement systems in the country, with a portfolio heavily weighted toward public equities, fixed income, private equity, real assets, and alternative investments, with public stocks for just over 40% of total assets. Source:

Its holdings include large positions in major U.S. technology, financial, consumer, and healthcare companies.

The Strategy investment remains a small allocation within that diversified portfolio, but its persistence has drawn attention given the volatility tied to Bitcoin-linked assets.Strategy Pushes Bitcoin Holdings Past 671,000 BTC as Shares Fall

Strategy has become the most prominent example of that exposure. The company has spent the past several years converting operating cash flows, equity issuance proceeds, and debt financing into Bitcoin purchases.

That approach has caused its shares to trade as a leveraged reflection of Bitcoin’s price movements.

Since peaking above $450 in July, MSTR shares have fallen nearly 62%, to Yahoo Finance data.

Over the past six months, the stock is down more than 55%, moving from roughly $369 in mid-June to the mid-$160 range. Source:

Despite the volatility, Strategy has continued adding to its Bitcoin holdings. Last week, the company disclosed the purchase of 10,645 BTC for $980.3 million at an average price of $92,098 per coin.

The acquisition lifted its total holdings to 671,268 BTC, reinforcing its position as the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin.

Those acquisitions came as Strategy moved to address investor concerns about liquidity and cash obligations.

The company recently established a $1.44 billion U.S. dollar reserve intended to cover dividend payments and interest expenses without requiring the sale of Bitcoin during periods of market stress.

Management said the reserve is sufficient to fund at least 12 months of dividend obligations, with plans to extend coverage to two years.

Other public pension systems, including New Jersey’s, have also increased MSTR holdings in recent months, showing a broader pattern of selective institutional exposure to Bitcoin-linked equities rather than direct cryptocurrency ownership.

Regulators at the US Securities and Exchange Commission met with cryptocurrency industry leaders on Monday to discuss financial surveillance and user privacy, as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to shape digital asset oversight.

In opening remarks at the roundtable, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who also heads the agency’s crypto task force, joined Chair Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda in outlining how regulators could balance investor protection with privacy considerations as blockchain-based financial activity expands.

Atkins said crypto had the potential to become “the most powerful financial surveillance architecture ever invented,” depending on how the US government handled regulation. He cited the SEC’s previous approach, “treating every wallet like a broker,” requiring more transactions to be reported.