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XRP sat at $1.0732 on August 4, a 0.99% slide in 24 hours. Not dramatic. But the number hiding underneath that flat print is a lot more interesting.
On Upbit and Bithumb — South Korea’s two dominant crypto exchanges — bids within 1% of the spot price are outrunning asks by roughly two to one. That’s not noise. That’s Korean retail investors stacking XRP in a pretty deliberate way, betting the current price range holds long enough for a real breakout. The asset’s market cap sits around $68.27 billion, with 62 billion tokens in circulation and a 24-hour trading volume of about $877 million. On Upbit specifically, XRP ranks third by daily volume, trailing only Tether and Bitcoin. That’s a big footprint for a token that’s basically been grinding sideways.
The channel is the thing.
XRP’s 80-Day Descending Channel
Since May 14, XRP has been locked inside a falling channel — a ceiling that keeps getting tested and keeps holding. The 4% bounce off August lows is the latest attempt to crack it. The 24-hour trading range is tight, $1.0701 to $1.0841, and the weekly range stretches from $1.07 to $1.18. Key support sits between $1.07 and $1.08, a zone that’s absorbed selling pressure multiple times now. Resistance clusters between $1.15 and $1.18, right at the top of that descending channel.
For traders, the math is pretty clear. A daily close above $1.18 would break the channel pattern and probably open the door to $1.30 and beyond. A daily close below $1.07, though, and XRP likely slides toward $0.98 to $1.00 — which would seriously undercut the accumulation case Korean buyers are currently building. It’s a binary setup, and neither side has blinked yet.
Volume is the missing piece. Any breakout needs a 40% to 50% surge above the 7-day average to carry real weight. Without that, even a clean close above $1.18 could be a head fake. Right now, volumes haven’t shown that kind of decisive move. The accumulation from Korean retail is real, but broader institutional appetite seems tepid. Macroeconomic uncertainty probably has something to do with that — though the source didn’t specify exactly what macro factors are weighing on sentiment.
And that’s the tension here. South Korean buyers are clearly positioning for upside. The rest of the market hasn’t confirmed it yet.
Kbank, Ripple Custody, and the Infrastructure Angle
There’s a structural piece worth noting. Kbank, which serves as Upbit’s exclusive banking partner, has deployed Ripple Custody. That’s a real infrastructure layer sitting behind all this Korean retail trading activity — not just enthusiasm, but actual backend support for XRP’s role on the exchange. It probably contributes to why XRP holds such a strong volume position on Upbit relative to other assets.
Meanwhile, traders who think XRP’s $68 billion market cap limits how much asymmetric upside is actually left are apparently eyeing the presale space. LiquidChain, a Layer 3 infrastructure project, is pitching itself as a cross-chain liquidity layer connecting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The presale price is $0.01486 per LIQUID token, and the project had raised $929,335.42 at the time of writing — close to the $1 million mark. Worth mentioning: presales carry real risks, including smart-contract vulnerabilities, and LiquidChain isn’t an established name. Unclear how much of the XRP crowd is actually rotating into it versus just watching from the sidelines.
But the comparison matters for context. XRP at $68 billion is a mature asset with a defined technical setup. A presale at under $1 million raised is a completely different risk profile. Some traders want both. Most probably pick one.
What Traders Are Watching Now
The 80-day channel is basically the whole story right now. It’s been the primary obstacle since mid-May, and every bounce — including this one — has so far failed to put in a convincing daily close above $1.15 to $1.18. The two-to-one bid-to-ask ratio on Upbit and Bithumb says Korean retail thinks that close is coming. The flat volume says the broader market isn’t convinced.
A breakout without volume is probably just noise. A breakdown below $1.07 would likely shake out the accumulators and send XRP back toward that $0.98 to $1.00 support band. Neither scenario is locked in.
So the market watches. Korean buyers keep stacking. And the channel holds — for now.
Kbank’s Ripple Custody deployment remains live, Upbit keeps ranking XRP third by daily volume, and the bid-ask skew at two to one hasn’t shifted.
Hub: XRP price, news, and analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
What is XRP’s current price and trading range?
XRP is trading at $1.0732, down 0.99% in 24 hours, with a daily range of $1.0701 to $1.0841 and a 7-day range of $1.07 to $1.18.
Why are South Korean investors buying XRP so aggressively?
On Upbit and Bithumb, bids within 1% of the spot price outweigh asks by roughly two to one, pointing to deliberate accumulation by Korean retail investors positioning for a potential breakout above the 80-day descending channel.
