Following sideways trading near $1.93 as of December 15, XRP fell to around $1.91 on December 17, breaching $1.92 support with a 5% drop. Bitcoin's sharp swings and institutional selling added pressure, despite ongoing ETF inflows surpassing $1 billion and new infrastructure like CME futures.
Building on prior XRP price stability around $1.93 amid regulatory wins and ETF interest, the token faced fresh downside on December 17, trading narrowly between $1.90-$1.94 and settling at $1.91 after a 5.04% decline below $1.92 support. This was driven by institutional repositioning and high volume, coinciding with Bitcoin's volatility—from $87,000 to over $90,000 and back—triggering $190 million in liquidations. AI stock declines further weighed on risk assets like altcoins.
Fundamentals continued to strengthen: spot XRP ETF inflows hit $1.0-$1.12 billion over 20+ days and six weeks, though derivatives selling persisted. Key developments included CME's spot-quoted XRP futures launch on December 15 for regulated hedging, and Ripple's conditional OCC approval for a national trust bank charter (expanding payments/asset management). This follows the August 2025 SEC resolution ($125M fine) and November's $500M funding round valuing Ripple at $40B.
Technicals remain bearish: resistance at $1.94-$2.00, support at $1.90 (next $1.77-$1.64). RSI below neutral and MACD crossover signal downside risk, with XRP down 16% monthly despite market struggles. Analysts highlight the gap between institutional progress and price fragility.