XRP Tests $1.45 as ETF Inflows and XRPL Activity Strengthen Bull Case

XRP is pressing into the $1.45 resistance zone while spot ETF inflows, cleaner regulation, and stronger XRPL activity give the token a more grounded bid than the usual bagholder fairy dust.

• Price test: XRP is hovering near $1.45 resistance
• ETF demand: Spot XRP ETF inflows are reportedly doing heavy lifting
• Network use: XRPL activity and RLUSD growth are adding real utility signals
• Risk remains: Leverage is cautious, and macro conditions can still wreck the setup

As of April 23, 2026 at 6:58 p.m. UTC, XRP was trading around $1.4379, with a market cap of about $88.53 billion. That keeps it ranked fourth among major cryptocurrencies, with 61.57 billion XRP in circulating supply and a fully diluted valuation near $143.79 billion. Twenty-four-hour volume hit $2.65 billion, up 3.77% day over day, which says traders are paying attention even if they’re not exactly throwing confetti yet.

Price action has been mixed. XRP is down 0.86% over 24 hours and 0.47% over the past week, but it remains up 3.55% over 30 days and 3.41% over 60 days. Zoom out to 90 days and it is still down 26.07%. Better lately, yes. Gone full moon mission? Not even close.

XRP price faces a familiar wall

The immediate fight is around $1.45, a resistance level the market keeps poking at without cleanly breaking through. Above that, traders are eyeing the $1.50 to $1.55 zone as the next hurdle. On a bigger timeframe, the real boss fight sits near the 200-day simple moving average around $1.89.

For newer readers: resistance is a price level where selling pressure has repeatedly stopped upward moves. If XRP can push through it with enough volume, that level can flip into support. If not, price often gets rejected and slides back down. Markets love making people think they’ve won right before reminding them who’s actually in charge.

There is also a possible cup-and-handle formation on the 4-hour chart. That’s a pattern traders often treat as a bullish continuation setup. The “cup” is the rounded recovery, and the “handle” is the small pullback before a breakout attempt. If confirmed, some traders are watching a possible move toward $1.70.

Of course, chart patterns are not prophecy. They are just market psychology with a fancy haircut.

Derivatives data shows traders are not going full degen

The derivatives market is not screaming “risk-on” just yet. Open interest fell 2.6% to around $2.58 billion. Open interest simply means the amount of active futures and derivatives contracts still open. When it drops, it often means traders are closing positions or becoming less aggressive.

Liquidations also leaned against the bulls. About $2.14 million in long positions were wiped out, compared with roughly $291,750 in shorts. That suggests overextended buyers took the bigger hit, while bears have not been forced into a full squeeze. In plain English: the market is still cautious, and leverage is not exactly chanting XRP to the moon in unison.

The bigger story is ETF inflows and regulatory de-risking

The stronger case for XRP is not just on the chart. It is coming from spot XRP ETF inflows, a cleaner regulatory backdrop, and growing usage on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

Reportedly, U.S. spot XRP ETFs pulled in more than $1.5 billion by early March 2026. Those funds were said to hold about 769 million XRP in custody, with no net outflow days in their first month. Total net assets reportedly moved above $1 billion, while average daily inflows came in around $2.42 million.

That matters because ETFs change the buyer base. Instead of relying mostly on retail trading and exchange speculation, XRP is increasingly being packaged into a form that traditional allocators can buy without messing around with wallets, custody headaches, or exchange risk. That is not magic, and it does not guarantee upside, but it does make demand more durable if flows keep coming.

One report also said Goldman Sachs held around $153.8 million in XRP-related ETF exposure. That does not mean the suits have become enlightened decentralized-warriors overnight, but it does suggest institutional demand is more than a Reddit fever dream.

SEC fallout finally stopped being the giant anchor

XRP spent years under the shadow of the SEC lawsuit over whether it was a security. That cloud got a lot smaller when the SEC dropped appeals against Ripple on August 7, 2025. A later token taxonomy guidance update dated March 17, 2026 was also cited as reducing regulatory uncertainty further.

For XRP holders, that shift matters because legal uncertainty is poison for large allocators. Institutions can tolerate volatility. What they hate is a regulatory landmine sitting under the desk. With that risk reduced, XRP is increasingly being treated less like a courtroom gamble and more like a tradable asset with a clearer path for compliance.

That is why words like “legal stability”, “institutional demand”, and “structural adoption” keep showing up in the conversation. They sound polished because the market is trying to describe a more serious shift: not just a speculative burst, but the possibility of sustained buyer interest backed by infrastructure and access.

XRPL activity is giving the bull case more substance

The XRP Ledger is also doing more than collecting talking points. On March 15, XRPL reportedly hit 3 million daily transactions. Real-world asset tokenization on the network was estimated at above $474 million, and Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD reportedly pushed past a $1.5 billion market cap.

For readers unfamiliar with the terms: XRPL is the blockchain network associated with XRP, and RLUSD is Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin. Stablecoins are designed to stay close to $1 and are often used for payments, trading, and liquidity. If RLUSD keeps growing, it can help deepen activity on XRPL and make the network more useful beyond just moving XRP around for speculation.

That does not automatically mean XRP’s price will moon because transaction counts are not the same thing as economic value. High activity can be real usage, but it can also include low-value transfers, bots, or other noise. Still, the combination of transactions, tokenization activity, and a growing stablecoin ecosystem is better than the usual “trust me, bro” utility pitch crypto projects love to sell.

What stands out is the shift from narrative to usage. The market is starting to treat XRP as part of a broader network story: payments rails, institutional access, tokenization, and liquidity infrastructure. That is a lot more convincing than the old “maybe someday” pitch.

Why the bullish case still has holes

Even with all that, XRP is not sailing on a frictionless path. The biggest technical ceiling remains the 200-day moving average near $1.89. If XRP cannot reclaim that zone, the longer-term trend is still incomplete.

There is also the issue of macro risk. If liquidity tightens, if risk appetite fades, or if broader markets puke, XRP can get dragged down with everything else. Crypto does not get to opt out of macro just because a token has nice talking points and a shiny ETF wrapper.

Another counterpoint is that activity on XRPL does not always translate directly into long-term XRP demand. Some of the ecosystem can grow without necessarily forcing huge token appreciation. That is the dirty little truth many bagholders prefer to ignore: utility is good, but token value capture is not automatic. A blockchain can be busy without every unit of its native asset becoming a lottery ticket.

So yes, the setup looks better. But “better” is not the same as “bulletproof.”

Key questions and takeaways

Is XRP breaking above $1.45?
It is testing that level, but a confirmed breakout still needs follow-through above $1.50 to $1.55. Without that, the move can fizzle out fast.

What is supporting the XRP price?
Reported spot XRP ETF inflows, improved regulatory clarity after the SEC appeal drop, and stronger XRPL activity are the main drivers.

Is XRP still just speculation?
Not entirely. Speculation is always part of crypto, but the ETF demand and network usage point to more than empty hype.

What is XRP’s next major technical target?
If XRP clears resistance cleanly, traders are watching a possible move toward $1.70. The bigger hurdle after that is the 200-day moving average near $1.89.

What risks could knock XRP lower?
Weak macro conditions, falling liquidity, failed breakout attempts, and renewed compliance friction could all hit XRP hard.

Does XRPL activity prove real adoption?
It suggests growing usage, but transaction volume alone is not proof of strong economic value. It is a positive signal, not a magic wand.

XRP is in a more credible place than it was during the lawsuit era. The token now has a cleaner regulatory setup, visible ETF demand, and a network story that is more than empty marketing fluff. Still, it has to prove it can do the hard part: break resistance, hold it, and keep attracting real capital without needing a fresh wave of crypto hopium to do the heavy lifting.