XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) hit $1.50 on April 17, its highest level since the March 17 spike to $1.60 that followed the SEC’s commodity classification. That rally gave everything back as the XRP price dropped by 13% and spent most of March and early April stuck between $1.28 and $1.35 So when XRP reached $1.50 again, the first thing holders were asking was if the rally would hold this time.
As of April 18, XRP hovers near $1.44 after a 4% dip from $1.50. For weeks, that $1.44 price mark was where underwater holders kept selling into every rally, making it a strong resistance—and now XRP is trading right on top of it. So, is this a pullback or the top, and what happens from here?
Why XRP Pulled Back After Hitting $1.50
After rallying from $1.33 to $1.50 in a week, XRP was due for a breather. A 13% rally in that short a window pushed the RSI—a measure of how fast a price has moved—to overbought levels, and XRP’s 7-day RSI hit 77. When it gets that high, some selling is normal as people lock in profits from the run-up.
The price also ran into a wall. XRP stalled right at $1.51, the bottom of a resistance zone that stretches up to $1.57. This is the same area where the March 17 rally to $1.60 started to unravel, as XRP got above it briefly but couldn’t hold, and then retraced back to $1.30.
Iran has also reversed its Strait of Hormuz position, reimposing what it called a strict control over the strait just one day after declaring it open. Ships that tried to pass through turned back, Bitcoin pulled back to $75,000, with most altcoins dropping with it, XRP included.
Why XRP’s Pullback to $1.44 Looks Different from the Last Three
Since the war started on February 28, the XRP price has tried to rally past $1.45 multiple times and failed each time. The March 17 spike after the SEC commodity classification took it all the way to $1.60, but it gave back 13% within a week and settled into the $1.28-$1.40 range. Later attempts to push past $1.40 in early and mid-April stalled in the low $1.40s and faded back toward $1.30.
This time, XRP broke through $1.45, hit $1.50, and pulled back to $1.44. It didn’t fall to $1.30. For weeks, $1.44 has been where selling pressure kept showing up on every rally attempt. If XRP is now holding at that level after a pullback instead of falling through it, that’s a sign the selling at $1.44 may be drying up.
What drove the recent rally is also different from the March spike. The previous rally had one thing behind it—the SEC commodity classification—and once that news wore off, there was nothing left to hold the price up. This time, the move had the Hormuz reopening, wXRP going live on Solana, Rakuten integrating XRP for 44 million users in Japan, and four straight days of ETF inflows totaling $41.64 million. Not all of those are going to fade overnight, and that’s likely why XRP is pulling back to $1.44 instead of crashing back to $1.30.
What XRP Needs to Hold $1.44 as Support
The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran expires on April 22, and right now that’s the main catalyst keeping the whole crypto market from plunging again. Iran has already reversed its Hormuz position, and Trump said on Air Force One that he may not extend the ceasefire and may start dropping bombs again. If the fighting resumes and oil prices spike back above $100, the entire crypto market will be under the bearish macro pressure again, and XRP may not hold $1.44.
On the other hand, if the ceasefire gets extended or leads to a broader deal, XRP has room to run. The 100-day EMA is at $1.55 and that’s the next real test above $1.50. Bitcoin also needs to stay above $75,000, as XRP has tracked BTC on every major move this year, and if Bitcoin starts slipping, XRP could follow.
Beyond the ceasefire, the CLARITY Act is still expected to move through the Senate Banking Committee before the end of April. If Tim Scott schedules the markup, that alone could push XRP past $1.50 before a vote even happens. Then the FOMC meets on April 28-29, and the news from the conference could affect the market as well.
So Is XRP Pulling Back or Topping Out?
Based on how the XRP price is behaving after the drop, this looks more like a pullback than a top. Every rally since the war started retraced back to $1.28-$1.30, but this one is holding at $1.44.
One reason that level may not drag XRP down again is that exchange reserves have dropped over 55% since late 2025, with billions of XRP moved into cold storage even while the price was falling. If most of those sellers have already exited, the wall at $1.44 may not be there anymore.
That said, the ceasefire expires on April 22 and that overrides everything else. If the war escalates again, on-chain data won’t matter as the whole market will sell off again. But if the ceasefire holds, XRP has already pushed through the level that stopped every rally since March, and the path higher from here has a lot less resistance than before.
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