MAROKO133 Update crypto: XRP Dips 14% As First Sell Wave of 2026 Hits — Yet The Trends Hol

📌 MAROKO133 Hot crypto: XRP Dips 14% As First Sell Wave of 2026 Hits — Yet The Tre

XRP price has pulled back sharply after a strong start to the year. Since topping on January 6, the price has been down more than 14%. Even after the drop, XRP remains up roughly 11% over the past seven days, showing this move is more correction than a collapse.

What matters now is not the size of the dip, but who is selling, and who is absorbing it.

Selling Pressure Builds as Volume Weakens Beneath Rising Price

From December 18 through January 9, XRP’s price trended higher. During that same period, On-Balance Volume (OBV) trended lower.

OBV tracks whether volume is flowing into or out of an asset. When price rises, but OBV falls, it signals that real buying power is weakening and that sellers are quietly active during rallies.

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More importantly, OBV is now drifting toward a descending trendline that connects its lower lows. If OBV breaks below that trendline, selling pressure could intensify further.

This does not yet confirm a breakdown. It simply shows XRP is facing its first meaningful sell wave of 2026, likely driven by profit-taking after a strong run.

That leads to the key question. If selling is happening, who is doing that? And more importantly, who is absorbing that selling pressure now that a rebound has stabilized the drop, as XRP has been trading flat over the past 24 hours?

Long-Term Holders and Whales Absorb Supply During the Dip

On-chain data shows the selling is not coming from long-term conviction holders.

The Hodler Net Position Change metric tracks whether long-term holders are accumulating or distributing. Since January 5, long-term holders increased their XRP holdings from 47.4 million to 55.4 million XRP. That is an addition of roughly 8 million XRP, a 17% increase, during a period when the price was actively falling.

Large whales tell the same story. Wallets holding 100 million to 1 billion XRP increased their combined balance from 8.34 billion to 8.52 billion XRP since January 6.

That is an increase of 180 million XRP, nearly $390 million in buying pressure. This matters because it shows the sell wave is being absorbed by stronger hands, not triggering panic exits.

As long-term holders and whales are accumulating, the sell pressure is most likely due to the short-term players.

XRP Price Levels Above Which The Pressure Fades

Even with accumulation underneath, the price still needs to clear the supply above.

Cost-basis data shows the first major resistance sits near $2.15, where a large cluster of holders previously accumulated. A clean move above this level would signal that near-term selling pressure is weakening.

The next and more important level is $2.41. This zone marks where the most recent sell-off began and represents a heavy supply cluster as well.

The supply clusters align with the XRP price chart levels. The first near-term resistance is close to $2.15 ($2.149 to be exact). A daily close above $2.41 would significantly reduce downside risk and reopen the path toward $2.69.

On the downside, $1.97 remains the key support. Holding above it keeps the broader structure intact. A loss of that level would signal that selling pressure is no longer being absorbed.

For now, XRP is in a controlled pullback phase. Volume shows selling pressure has arrived, but long-term holders and whales are actively buying into it. As long as accumulation continues and key support holds, this correction looks like a pause in the trend, not a warning.

The post XRP Dips 14% As First Sell Wave of 2026 Hits — Yet The Trends Holds appeared first on BeInCrypto.

🔗 Sumber: www.beincrypto.com

📌 MAROKO133 Update crypto: Sanctions Drive Illicit Crypto Activity to Record Highs

Ongoing sanctions against nation-states pushed illicit cryptocurrency activity to unprecedented levels in 2025, as blacklisted governments and entities increasingly turned to blockchain networks to bypass financial restrictions.

According to a new crypto crime report released Thursday by Chainalysis, illicit crypto addresses received at least $154 billion over the year, marking a 162% jump from $59 billion in 2024.

The surge was largely driven by sanctioned entities moving funds on-chain at scale.

Chainalysis Flags 2025 as a Turning Point for Illicit State-Linked Crypto Activity

Chainalysis described 2025 as a turning point, citing “unprecedented volumes associated with nation-states’ on-chain behavior” and calling it the latest phase in the evolution of the illicit crypto ecosystem.

Analysts said the scale and coordination of activity stood apart from prior years, reflecting growing sophistication among sanctioned actors.

A major contributor was Russia, which has faced sweeping international sanctions since its invasion of Ukraine.

In February 2025, the country launched a ruble-backed token known as A7A5. In less than a year, the token processed more than $93.3 billion in transactions, highlighting how state-linked crypto initiatives are increasingly used to route value outside traditional financial rails.

The expansion of sanctions worldwide has also intensified pressure on sanctioned parties to seek alternative payment systems.

The Global Sanctions Inflation Index estimated in May that nearly 80,000 entities and individuals were under sanctions globally.

Meanwhile, research from the Center for a New American Security found that the United States alone added 3,135 entities to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List in 2024, the highest annual total on record.

Stablecoins have emerged as the primary tool in illicit crypto flows, mirroring trends across the broader market.

Chainalysis reported that stablecoins accounted for 84% of all illicit transaction volume in 2025, driven by their price stability, ease of cross-border transfer, and widespread liquidity.

The firm noted that the same features fueling legitimate adoption have also made stablecoins attractive to sanctioned users.

Despite the sharp rise in illicit volumes, Chainalysis stressed that criminal activity remains a small fraction of the overall crypto economy.

Illicit transactions still account for less than 1% of total on-chain activity, even as their share edged slightly higher year over year.

PeckShield Reports Spike in Address-Poisoning and Key-Leak Exploits

Blockchain security firm PeckShield documented 26 major exploits in December, with address-poisoning scams and private-key leaks accounting for substantial losses.

One victim lost $50 million after mistakenly copying a fraudulent address that visually mimicked their intended destination.

Another major incident involved a private key leak tied to a multi-signature wallet, resulting in losses of approximately $27.3 million.

The industry’s vulnerability extends beyond technical exploits to social engineering schemes, with Brooklyn resident Ronald Spektor facing charges for allegedly stealing $16 million from roughly 100 Coinbase users by impersonating company employees.

The post Sanctions Drive Illicit Crypto Activity to Record Highs in 2025 appeared first on Cryptonews.

🔗 Sumber: cryptonews.com