The XRP price is facing renewed selling pressure, even as Ripple announces another step toward deeper institutional integration with the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

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The token is trading near $1.42, down more than 10% over the past 24 hours, as market participants focus less on corporate developments and more on weakening technical and on-chain signals. The divergence shows a familiar pattern in the markets, positive infrastructure news does not always translate into price support.

The latest drop accelerated after XRP slipped below $1.60, a level that had previously served as short-term support. Once that floor gave way, automated selling and stop-loss orders appear to have intensified the move, pushing prices closer to levels not seen since the last broader market pullback.

XRP's price trends to the downside on the daily chart. Source: XRPUSD on Tradingview

XRP Price Slides as Key Support Breaks

Technical indicators suggest the sell-off has been sharp. The Relative Strength Index is approaching oversold territory, reflecting strong downside momentum rather than a slow grind lower. Trading volumes have also picked up during the decline, a sign that sellers are acting with conviction rather than hesitation.

On-chain data adds to the cautious outlook. Recent metrics show reduced network activity and limited evidence of sustained accumulation at current levels. In previous corrections, XRP price often stabilized when wallet activity and transaction counts began to rise.

If the price fails to reclaim $1.60, analysts increasingly point to the $1.00 psychological level as the next area to watch. While oversold conditions can sometimes trigger short-term bounces, the broader structure suggests XRP remains vulnerable unless sentiment improves.

Ripple’s Hyperliquid Integration Fails to Lift XRP

The price weakness comes despite Ripple announcing that its institutional prime brokerage arm, Ripple Prime, has added support for Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives platform.

The integration allows institutional clients to access on-chain perpetual futures while cross-margining those positions with assets such as foreign exchange, fixed income, and other digital assets through a single account.

Market reaction has been mixed. While the move underscores Ripple’s push to bridge traditional finance and DeFi, it does not create a direct new demand driver for XRP itself. Some investors had hoped Ripple would prioritize deeper integration of the XRP Ledger.

Diverging Signals Across the Market

The contrast is clear elsewhere. Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, has shown relative strength following the integration news, trading above key moving averages even as the broader market weakens.

That divergence suggests capital is flowing toward platforms tied to institutional trading activity, rather than toward legacy large-cap tokens facing technical breakdowns.

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For now, XRP’s trajectory appears driven more by market structure and on-chain signals than by Ripple’s expanding institutional footprint. Until buyers step in decisively, the risk of a deeper XRP price move toward $1.00 remains on the table.

Cover image from ChatGPT, XRPUSD chart on Tradingview

• More than $107,000 in total losses have already been identified through on-chain analysis.
• No specific wallet provider or exploit vector has yet been confirmed by investigators.
• Attackers are siphoning small amounts under $2,000 per wallet, delaying detection and spreading risk widely.

A new on-chain alert has drawn attention to a discreet but wide-reaching crypto theft campaign affecting hundreds of users across EVM-compatible blockchains.

The warning, shared by blockchain investigator ZachXBT, points to a coordinated wallet-draining operation that has already resulted in more than $107,000 in cumulative losses.

What sets this incident apart is not the size of individual thefts, but how they are carried out. Instead of targeting large balances, the attacker appears to be siphoning relatively small sums from a large number of wallets.

Most losses remain under $2,000 per address, allowing the activity to spread quietly without drawing immediate attention from victims or monitoring systems.

A stealthy pattern emerges

The affected wallets span several EVM-compatible networks, confirming that this is not limited to a single chain or ecosystem.

Transaction data reviewed by investigators shows consistent timing and similar transfer amounts, indicating a coordinated effort rather than isolated incidents.

So far, no specific wallet provider, decentralised application, or smart contract vulnerability has been identified as the entry point. There has also been no official confirmation linking the drains to compromised software updates or phishing campaigns.

What has been established is that the stolen funds are being funnelled into related addresses, suggesting a single actor or closely connected group is responsible.

This lack of a clear exploit vector has complicated efforts to contain the issue.

Without knowing how access is being gained, users and developers are left with limited immediate options beyond heightened vigilance.

Why small losses create big risks

While the financial impact on individual users may appear limited, the method itself raises broader concerns.

By spreading theft across many wallets, attackers can delay detection and reduce the likelihood of rapid, coordinated responses.

Victims may notice missing funds days or weeks later, if at all.

The approach also underlines the persistent risks facing self-custody users who interact with multiple chains, protocols, and permissions.

Each interaction increases the surface area for potential compromise, particularly within the interconnected EVM ecosystem.

The timing of the incident has added to unease in the crypto community.

It follows a series of security breaches in late 2025 that renewed scrutiny around wallet approvals, private key management, and cross-chain activity.

Exploits remain a constant threat

This episode fits into a wider pattern of ongoing security issues across the digital asset sector.

Data from blockchain security firm PeckShield shows that December saw around 26 major crypto exploits, resulting in losses of roughly $76 million.

While that total was significantly lower than November’s $194 million, it confirms that exploit activity remains persistent.

One of the most prominent incidents during the period involved Trust Wallet, which disclosed a security issue linked to a specific version of its browser extension.

The breach, which occurred over the Christmas period, led to about $7 million in losses.

The company has since started compensating affected users and introduced updates to strengthen verification and reimbursement processes.

ZachXBT has said the wallet-draining case is still developing, with fund movements continuing to be tracked.

There is currently no confirmed explanation for how the wallets were compromised, and no single product or service has been publicly blamed.