A price zone that served as a bottom for all of 2025 is now blocking XRP’s recovery. The $1.80 level – once a reliable support – turned into resistance in January 2026, and the token hasn’t come close to regaining it since. Until this happens, one analyst says XRP “remains in big trouble.”
Related reading
A canal break that changed everything
Most of last year XRP traded within a large parallel channel with a ceiling around $3.45 and a bottom around $1.80. The token stayed within these limits even as the price started to fall after reaching an all-time high of $3.60 in July 2025. Lower highs and lower lows piled up in the fourth quarter, but $1.80 held firm.
Then came January. XRP closed the month below that level for the first time and hasn’t looked back. The $1.80 floor became a ceiling, and every attempt to move higher hit that wall.
If I zoom out, I can still see $XRP in deep trouble.
It is clearly a downtrend with a series of lower lows and lower highs, and most importantly it is still below that key level at $1.80.
As long as we do not break this downward trend, we can expect the “no support zone” to be filled. pic.twitter.com/mNuF8O8LWo
— Sjuul | AltCryptoGems (@AltCryptoGems) March 18, 2026
Analyst Sjuul from the AltCryptoGems channel has explained the situation in a recent market slump. Zooming out to the daily chart, he pointed out the pattern of lower lows and lower highs that has defined XRPs price promotion since the July peak – a structure that leaves the broader downtrend fully intact, regardless of short-term rebounds.
A 15% rally that still went nowhere
XRP posted a string of gains between March 9 and 16 – seven days out of eight, its best run since September 2025. The token climbed 15% during that period, claiming $1.50 and closing at $1.54 on March 16.
But the rally stalled almost immediately. A push towards $1.60 met resistance at $1.6074 earlier this week, and XRP has since retreated for three consecutive days and is now trading around $1.46. The recovery, as impressive as it looked for a moment, never came close to $1.80.
For context, XRP had fallen to $1.27 on February 28 during the initial market reaction to the Israel-Iran conflict, before rising back above $1.50. The rally in March was largely a recovery from that low – not a trend reversal.
Related reading
Two scenarios, one number
Sjuul sees the way forward as simple. XRP either reclaims $1.80 and moves back into the parallel channel – invalidating the bearish setup – or it doesn’t, and the downside risk increases sharply.
The level he marks at the downside is the $1.20 to $1.30 zone. That area offered no resistance during XRP’s explosive rally in November 2024, what analysts call a “no support zone” — a price range that the market blew through so quickly that few buyers established positions there.
Since that rally, the zone has functioned as a buffer during dips. If $1.80 remains as resistance, Sjuul suggests XRP could fall back toward that range.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView