XRP rebounded by over 4% on October 21st. With the upcoming network upgrade of XRP Ledger, short sellers are facing increasing liquidation pressure, and the price has risen back to around $1.35.
A market snapshot on October 21st shows that XRP has risen by about 4.7% in the past 24 hours, with trading ranges concentrated between $1.29 and $1.35. This rebound comes after several weeks of weakness, during which the cryptocurrency fell below $1.40.
Derivative data shows that within a rolling 24-hour period, approximately $4.4 million worth of XRP positions were liquidated, of which about $3.6 million came from short sellers. The data indicates that bearish traders faced particularly significant pressure during this rebound. However, the liquidation alone cannot explain the entire price movement.
XRP Short liquidation accelerates, price testing resistance levels
The latest increase brings XRP closer to the resistance range of around $1.35 to $1.38, and traders are watching to see if the price can continue to recover.
According to the derivatives tracking institution TRdesk, approximately 80% of the $4.4 million in liquidations came from short positions. Generally speaking, when leveraged shorts are liquidated, they need to close their open positions, which can amplify price increases.
However, XRP is still far below the trading levels seen earlier in October. The recent decline in the market value of this cryptocurrency highlights that, despite increased interest from institutions, the overall correction still has a significant impact on holders.
If it can continuously break through $1.38, the market recovery may be further strengthened, and $1.42 will come into focus. On the contrary, if selling pressure reappears and prices fall below $1.32, the support level will be at $1.29, followed by $1.28.
The upgrade on October 23rd for XRP Ledger is approaching.
This price rebound occurred before XRP Ledger is expected to activate fixCleanup3_4_0 on October 23rd, which is a maintenance patch aimed at resolving a number of technical issues.
Relevant changes include amendments to token permissions, managed transactions, automated market makers, and calculations related to future lending infrastructure.
As previously mentioned by Coinpaper in the upgrade analysis, this amendment has received sufficient support from verifiers, and the countdown to activation has begun.
However, this update will not enable the native lending feature on XRPL.
The proposed lending agreement and its Single Asset Vault component still require separate approval from the validators.
This distinction is very important because the broader expansion of the online credit market may ultimately bring more financial applications to XRP, but these developments will not be automatically realized due to the maintenance patch on Friday.
XRP Price Outlook: Can the bulls regain $1.40?
Despite a short-term rebound, XRP still faces uncertainties regarding institutional demand and the sentiment in the broader crypto market.
U.S. spot XRP ETF previously recorded capital inflows for 13 consecutive weeks, which indicates that investing through regulated products does not necessarily prevent the decline of underlying cryptocurrencies.
At the same time, Ripple's continuously expanding institutional strategy includes the potential use of XRP as collateral, although these applications are different from recent exchange transactions.
For a bullish scenario to materialize, XRP must first establish support above $1.35, then challenge $1.38, and may further rise towards $1.42. If there is a pullback at the resistance level, $1.32 and the recent low of $1.29 will once again become focal points of attention.
The upgrade on October 23 may affect market sentiment, but its completion alone will not independently establish a new upward trend. The ongoing buying demand and the broader market environment will still determine the next step in price movements.
