XRP Clearing Market Reveals "Zero Short Positions": Can the $2 Support Hold Under Extreme Imbalance?

In the past 24 hours, the XRP price has fallen from $2.09 to $2.0048, a decline of approximately 4.118%, performing slightly weaker than the overall crypto market during the same period.

When the market lacks participation on one side, the price decline may not be driven by active selling pressure but rather by a vacuum in buying strength.

01 Market Anomaly

According to data shared on Gate Square from CryptoNewsNet, XRP’s derivatives market has exhibited a remarkable statistical anomaly.

Within the past four-hour timeframe, the liquidation heatmap shows an extremely imbalanced state: long liquidations reached $175,000, while short liquidations were only $588.

This indicates that, despite XRP’s price retreating from highs and breaking some support levels intraday, there was almost no new short betting follow-up in the market.

After clearing some long leverage, the market continued forward without encountering substantial downward pressure.

02 Background Investigation

This strange phenomenon of “zero shorts” is not an isolated event; it is closely related to XRP’s recent market structure and capital flows.

On one hand, spot market selling continues within the resistance zone of $2.09 to $2.10, causing multiple failed attempts to push higher. But on the other hand, support forces are quietly accumulating.

On-chain data shows that over the past month, exchange XRP reserves decreased from $7.03 billion to $5.70 billion, a reduction of over $1.32 billion.

More than 13.2 million XRP tokens have flowed out of exchanges, which may indicate that long-term investors are accumulating chips rather than preparing for short-term sell-offs.

Meanwhile, institutional funds have not exited. The US spot XRP ETF has maintained net inflows for several consecutive weeks, recently attracting over $170 million. This persistent buying provides underlying support for the price, making the decline seem more like a technical correction rather than a complete trend reversal.

03 Technical Perspective

From a purely technical analysis standpoint, XRP is at a critical crossroads. The price is currently trading near the psychological level of $2.00, which is also a support zone transformed from an old trendline.

A more significant reference below is the 20-month exponential moving average (EMA), currently around $1.93. Historical data shows that successful retests of this EMA often signal the start of a subsequent upward trend.

However, the short-term trend remains weak. Since August 2025, XRP has been in a descending channel, with its 100-day and 200-day moving averages far above the current price, at around $2.60, creating multiple overhead resistances.

In the short term, the market needs to see clear stabilization above $2.00 and a volume breakout above $2.10 to reverse the current bearish trend. Otherwise, if $2.00 support is lost, the next support zone will be at $1.82 to $1.85.

04 Market Impact

The extreme imbalance in the derivatives market is itself a strong market signal. It indicates that professional traders or large institutions currently do not see significant value in shorting XRP.

Analysts point out that this pattern makes XRP’s price correction look more like a leverage long liquidation and price reset rather than an organized trend decline led by shorts.

For traders, operating in this environment requires more patience. Due to the lack of short pressure, prices may not experience panic-driven straight declines, but upward movement may also be sluggish due to lack of buying interest.

This “directionless” consolidation may persist until a key technical level is clearly broken or a major fundamental news event can break the current balance between longs and shorts.

05 Future Outlook

Traders are closely watching two key price levels. First is above $2.10; any sustained daily close above this level could trigger short covering and attract trend traders, turning the short-term structure bullish.

Second is the support at $2.00. If this level is effectively broken, market focus will quickly shift to the $1.93 20-month EMA support and the deeper demand zone around $1.80.

The current extreme liquidation imbalance provides a unique window into the market. It reveals that, against the backdrop of continuous ETF fund inflows and decreasing exchange reserves, the bearish sentiment toward XRP is not strong.

The market’s direction will ultimately depend on whether buyers are willing to step in at the current levels, turning fragile support into a solid rebound point.

Future Outlook

As of December 12, XRP’s trading price on Gate hovers around the critical $2.00 level. Its daily Bollinger Bands are tightening, indicating that market volatility may soon increase.

In the derivatives market, the maximum pain point for shorts is located approximately 9.71% above the spot price, acting like a magnet, subtly pulling the price and discouraging shorts from adding positions easily.