Ripple (XRP) emerged as one of the worst-performing assets on Wednesday, even as Bitcoin's record rally boosted major altcoins.
Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), and Binance Coin (BNB) recorded gains of over 3% each, surpassing resistances of $0.73, $165, and $645, respectively. In contrast, XRP only managed a 1.5% rebound, failing to break the resistance of $2.40.
XRP's daily trading volume stood at $2.7 billion, a drop of nearly 80% from its peak on May 13 of $11 billion. This indicates reduced investor interest following U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres's decision to uphold the $125 million fine imposed on Ripple.
Ripple's slow price action is due to increasing regulatory pressure and a bearish outlook in derivatives. While ADA, SOL, and BNB thrived thanks to BTC's breakout above $109,000, XRP barely generated half of its gains.
Over the past seven days, XRP's derivatives liquidation map shows $319.91 million in short leverage, significantly outpacing the $230 million in long positions.
Notably, $165 million of this short interest is concentrated at the $2.50 level, a technical and psychological barrier.
This massive bearish wall suggests that traders are heavily betting that XRP will not surpass $2.50.