XRP has staged a sharp recovery, climbing back toward the $1.50 level after trading near $1 just days earlier. Gains range between 14% in a single session and more than 50% over roughly 65 hours, briefly adding approximately $30 billion to the token’s market capitalization and underscoring how rapidly capital has returned to one of crypto’s most closely watched large-cap assets.
The advance has been fueled by forced short covering, improving regulatory expectations, and renewed interest from large holders. On-chain data cited across the market indicates substantial accumulation, with major wallets reportedly adding 380 million XRP over a single business week.
South Korea Returns as a Major Source of Trading Activity
South Korean trading has emerged as a standout feature of the move. Upbit, the country’s largest crypto exchange, recorded a reported 273% increase in overall trading volume to $1.84 billion, its highest level since March.
XRP just did $1.21 BILLION in 24h volume on Upbit South Korea’s biggest exchange
31.99% of ALL spot volume. Not Bitcoin. Not Ethereum. Not Tether. XRP.
Korea has spoken and they’re not staying on the sidelines. pic.twitter.com/Xef2vkytxY
— 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸XRP (@BankXRP) August 22, 2026
XRP accounted for roughly $399 million of volume over 24 hours on the platform, surpassing both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Korean retail demand has historically played an outsized role in XRP rallies, and the latest surge suggests traders are again treating the token as a high-conviction momentum trade.
There are also signs of broader interest in the XRP Ledger ecosystem. A proposed PermissionDelegationV1_1 amendment has advanced through validator approval as part of the ledger’s wider version 3.3.0 upgrade process. Separately, Ripple has backed plans for an institutional credit fund that would utilize RLUSD working-capital loans for fintech and payments companies on the network.
Breakout Signals Meet Confluent Resistance
Technically, XRP has climbed above levels that capped it during a months-long decline. The token traded above $1.40 and moved back over key long-term moving averages, while some analysts identified a breakout from a falling-wedge pattern.
That does not yet erase the longer-term bearish setup. The 50-day and 200-day moving averages have not completed a bullish crossover, and the next substantial resistance area sits around $1.85 to $1.95.
Back in June, I asked for 2 minutes of your time to read a thread outlining $XRP’s decline into my area of interest and major opportunity near the $1 region.
We had not yet swept below $1 at the time, yet price still tagged into the interest zone; supporting the case for… pic.twitter.com/NEFSPIMLiP
— ChartNerd (@ChartNerdTA) August 23, 2026
A sustained close above that range would offer stronger confirmation than a short-lived spike.
For now, the more immediate level is $1.50. Holding near that price after such a rapid run would indicate that demand is absorbing profit-taking rather than merely reacting to liquidations. Failure to do so could reopen the path toward the recent $1 support area.


