Analyst Ali Martinez, known as Ali Charts, said XRP is moving closer to the apex of a triangle while whale holdings have shown little significant change over the past week. His analysis identifies a four-hour close above $1.53 as the confirmation signal that could open a move toward $1.62.
XRP was trading around $1.51 on Monday, up about 0.8% over 24 hours and 2.9% over seven days, according to CoinCodex. That leaves the token less than 2% below Martinez’s trigger, but the recent price history shows why confirmation matters.
$1.53 Is the Level XRP Still Has to Prove
XRP has already made several attempts to establish itself above the $1.50 region. In late September, the token briefly pushed toward $1.60 before retreating, while an earlier XRP price setup identified roughly $1.57-$1.60 as an important resistance area.
A separate technical breakdown placed the wider resistance band around $1.57–$1.63. That makes Martinez’s $1.62 objective notable: it sits almost exactly where XRP has recently struggled to sustain upside momentum.
The distinction is also why Martinez is looking for a four-hour close, rather than simply a wick above $1.53. At the current price, reaching $1.62 would represent roughly 7% upside.
Whale Activity Makes This Breakout Different
The more unusual part of the setup is what whales are not doing.
Martinez said large-holder balances have remained broadly unchanged over the past week. That is a contrast with September, when whales accumulated about 1.54 billion XRP during a 96-hour stretch as XRP rebounded toward $1.50. That earlier whale accumulation was worth roughly $2.2 billion at the time.
This time, price compression appears to be developing without a comparable accumulation impulse. That does not make the breakout bearish, but it puts more weight on the technical confirmation itself.
Institutional demand remains another backdrop. U.S. XRP ETFs recently surpassed 1 billion XRP in combined holdings, with approximately 1.13 billion XRP worth $1.68 billion held as of Sept. 29. The ETF milestone shows that institutional exposure has continued growing even while XRP remains stuck near resistance.
