Cryptocurrency

XRP Gained 16% Last Week and Lost 7% in a Day. Is the Rally Already Over?

XRP surged nearly 16% in a week on a wave of forced buying, then shed 7% almost overnight. What comes next hinges on whether fresh demand steps in before a critical support level breaks.

By Sam Daodu

Published September 24, 2026, 11:04am ET · 3 min read

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Four light brown wooden blocks spell out "XRP" on a white surface. A person's hand holds a fifth wooden block, which displays a bright green upward-pointing arrow on its visible face, with a red downward-pointing arrow visible on an adjacent face. Behind the blocks, a blurred digital screen shows a financial stock chart with colorful data points against a dark grid. — As BNY Mellon extends its custody services to include XRP, investors ponder the cryptocurrency's potential market trajectory. © Uuganbayar / Shutterstock.com

XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) gained 15.8% by September 23, 2026, then fell 6.9% the next day. As of September 24, it trades at $1.51. The XRP rally lifted the coin from $1.30 to a peak of $1.66 in just six days before selling pressure emerged.

This surge was driven mainly by traders forced to close short positions, and that buying momentum typically runs out. So, is the XRP rally already over, or has it simply paused?

XRP’s Biggest Spike Came from $300 Million in Short Position Liquidations

A graphic illustrating an upward trend with five light brown cubic blocks arranged like a staircase on a dark gray surface against a black background. Each of the five visible ascending blocks has a white percentage symbol on its top face. A white, curved arrow follows the ascending path of the blocks, pointing upwards and to the right, signifying growth or increase.

The biggest jump occurred on September 21, when exchanges were forced to close about $300 million in short positions across the crypto market within an hour. XRP had one of the most heavily shorted positions at that time.

A short position is a trade that profits when prices decline. When prices rise, exchanges close these positions by buying XRP at market prices in a process called liquidation. This buying pressure drives prices higher, forcing even more short positions to close.

XRP rose from a close of $1.30 on September 17 to around $1.40 by September 18, maintaining that level until the significant short squeeze on September 21, which pushed it to a close of $1.57 on September 22 and a peak of $1.66 on September 23. However, once those forced buyers have exited the market, the rally needs a new source of demand to continue.

XRP Funds Took In Less in September Than in August

Ripple (XRP) and cryptocurrency investing - XRP is a real-time gross settlement system network created by the Ripple company, also called the Ripple Transaction Protocol (RTXP) or Ripple protocol

Typically, the next wave of buyers would come from spot XRP funds. U.S. spot XRP ETFs have attracted around $1.71 billion since their launch in November 2025, currently holding about 1.7% of all XRP.

However, fund inflows have slowed in September. These funds brought in only $10 million to $19 million weekly in September, which is notably less than the $28 million they received on August 26, which marked the second-largest inflow day of 2026.

Consequently, XRP posted significant gains without the fund inflows that often sustain a rally. Without new demand to replace the short covering, XRP may struggle to maintain upward momentum.

XRP Holds Above $1.48 but Faces Sellers Near $1.70

Business XRP coin currency finance money on graph chart background

XRP’s nearest support is $1.48, matching its low on September 23 and just 2% below the current price of $1.51. If it breaks below that, the next support is $1.40, the low on September 21, about 7% lower.

On the upside, XRP needs to clear the $1.66 high from September 23, roughly 10% above, and then push through $1.70, the high from August 22, around 13% higher. Many holders entered the market at higher prices, especially those who bought above $2.75. On August 22, XRP faced selling pressure at $1.70, indicating that sellers could emerge there again.

Before testing either level, the XRP Ledger’s Batch upgrade is set to go live on September 29, pending support from 28 of 35 validators. Additionally, Ripple can release up to 1 billion XRP from escrow on October 1, valued at about $1.5 billion, although it typically locks most of it back up.

Is the XRP Rally Over?

The short-covering phase of the XRP rally appears to have ended, but that doesn’t mean the rally itself is over. As long as XRP stays above $1.48, it has retained most of its weekly gains, and the upcoming Batch upgrade on September 29 may encourage buyers to return.

However, the situation is delicate: $1.48 is only 2% below the current price, while $1.70 is 13% above it. If XRP closes below $1.48 before the October 1 escrow release, it may signal the end of the rally that began at $1.30, with $1.40 becoming the next support level. If fund inflows pick up and approach August’s rates, XRP could challenge $1.66 and perhaps even $1.70 again.

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Sam Daodu

Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.

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