Can XRP’s price hit $2.3 after $22M in liquidations wreck the market?

• XRP saw $22 million rekt positions during Thursday’s liquidation cascade
• The 200-day SMA will be a key level if the short-term bullish structure holds firm 

On Thursday, XRP markets suffered a $22 million loss after fresh tensions in the Middle East sparked market-wide liquidations. 

In particular, leveraged longs lost $20M compared to shorts’ $1.7M. However, the wreckage was relatively low, compared to the overall market bloodbath, which hit $1.16 billion. 

Here, it’s worth noting that the shake-out happened after a key bullish update – The first XRP treasury company.

At the same time, Options volume surged by 225% to nearly $4 billion, underscoring a hike in hedging by large players. So, what’s next for XRP?

Assessing XRP’s outlook

On Thursday, XRP Ledger welcomed Circle’s USDC on its blockchain, a bonus for its remittance vision and XRP as a utility token. Another bullish update was from Nasdaq-listed Trident Digital Tech Holdings Ltd. launching an XRP corporate treasury. 

The firm announced a $500 million financial plan to acquire XRP, putting the altcoin at par with BTC, ETH, SOL, and HYPE, for growing interest from public firms. 

Perhaps, these bullish updates helped mute Thursday’s plunge. Unlike ETH and SOL, each of which dumped by 8%, XRP lost only 4% of its value. 

That said, 25 Delta Risk Reversals (25RR), a key forward-looking sentiment gauge, turned negative for the end-June Options expiry. This meant the Options market saw more demand for puts (bearish bets, hedging) than calls (bullish bets). 

Put differently, there seemed to be greater hedging against potential downside risk – A sign of weak sentiment in the short term. 

The aforementioned bearish positioning wasn’t surprising because the market isn’t yet sure how the Middle East tensions would evolve. Another potential volatile event would be next week’s FOMC meeting. 

On the price charts, the altcoin has consolidated between the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and $2.3 in June. If bulls lose the 200-day SMA, bears could drag XRP to $1.9 or $1.8. Especially if the situation in the Middle East worsens. 

On the upside, the $2.3-target would be an immediate resistance if market sentiment improves.