TLDR
- XRP surged 51% this week to $1.50, its best weekly gain since November 2024
- The rally was triggered by a U.S. Treasury announcement to buy back $4 billion in long-duration bonds
- Nearly $2 billion in short positions were liquidated this week
- Whale sell walls sit between $1.48 and $2.00, limiting near-term upside
- Binance holds 2.62 billion XRP in reserves, representing elevated exchange supply
XRP climbed 51% this week, reaching $1.50 on August 23. That makes it the best weekly performance for the token since November 2024. The move put XRP well ahead of bitcoin (22%), ether (30%), and Solana (28%) over the same period.
The catalyst was a U.S. Treasury announcement. From September 9 to November 4, the Treasury will buy back $4 billion or more of its own 10- to 30-year bonds, doubling the previous $2 billion cap. Markets read that move as a signal that policymakers may be working to cap rising bond yields.
Yields on longer-duration bonds hit their highest levels since 2007 earlier this week. That raised concerns about government debt costs and reduced appetite for risk assets. The Treasury buyback announcement eased those concerns and sent crypto prices higher across the board.
XRP’s move was also fuelled by a large short squeeze. Data from Coinglass showed nearly $2 billion in short positions were liquidated this week. That kind of forced buying can amplify price moves quickly.
Whale Sell Walls Are Stacking Up
Market analyst CW posted on X that whale sell walls are positioned at $1.4824, $1.69, $1.70, $1.80, $1.95, and $2.00. CW linked several of these walls to large Coinbase-connected accounts. The analyst also noted a whale buy wall near $1.30 that could act as support on a pullback.
$XRP has returned inside the ascending channel.
Additionally, a golden cross occurred between the EMA lines of the RSI indicator. A bullish rally has begun. pic.twitter.com/z3qtqGT9af
— CW (@CW8900) August 23, 2026
CW added that the nearest sell wall had not yet broken. A clean break above it, the analyst said, could open room toward $2.15 with limited resistance in between.
Bitstamp data showed XRP trading near $1.48 on August 23, after briefly touching $1.52 intraday. Trading volume reached approximately $13.23 billion over 24 hours. Market cap was estimated near $92.72 billion.
Binance Holds 2.62 Billion XRP
CryptoQuant data showed Binance holding about 2.62 billion XRP in exchange reserves. That figure represents roughly 2.6% of XRP’s total maximum supply of 100 billion tokens.
Exchange reserves had trended lower through much of 2026 before stabilizing. Still, 2.62 billion tokens represents a large accessible supply pool that could weigh on price if sellers become active.
Despite the week’s gains, XRP has only recovered about 20% of its decline from the record high of $3.65 set in July last year. The token fell to just under $1 as recently as last week.
CW also noted a golden cross between the EMA lines on the RSI indicator, flagging it as a bullish technical signal. The next key test is whether buyers can push through the first whale sell wall in the $1.48 to $1.50 zone.
