XRP has recently experienced significant price volatility, falling below the critical $3 mark within the last 24 hours. This downturn has led to a substantial liquidation imbalance, primarily impacting traders who had placed long bets on the cryptocurrency. Data from CoinGlass reveals that XRP bulls were caught off guard as the asset's price plunged, contrary to widespread expectations of an upward rally.

The price fluctuations resulted in approximately $7.93 million being liquidated within the 24-hour period. Long position traders bore the brunt of these losses, suffering a staggering $7,210,000 in liquidations, which established an alarming 903% liquidation imbalance. This indicates a strong market sentiment among XRP holders anticipating a price surge, only to be met with a sharp decline.

This liquidation imbalance was not isolated to XRP, reflecting a broader market trend. Ethereum, for instance, recorded the highest liquidation figures, with long position traders incurring losses of $61.5 million compared to short position traders' losses of $4.14 million. Similarly, the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, saw a total of $35.10 million in liquidations; of this, bulls betting on a price increase lost $33.10 million, while short positions accounted for $2 million in losses. This pattern underscores a market-wide failure for the crypto sector to sustain a rally.

Specifically for XRP, the price crashed from $3.04, decisively breaching the $3 threshold. The cryptocurrency found a momentary floor at the $2.90 support level, which prevented a further free fall. As of the time of reporting, XRP was trading at $2.98, marking a 1.68% decline over the past 24 hours. While long traders faced massive losses, short position traders also experienced a mild setback, losing around $718,830 during the same period.

Interestingly, some analysts have posited that the current stagnation in XRP’s price is not merely market dynamics but a result of deliberate suppression by powerful institutional interests. Versan Aljarrah, founder of Black Swan Capitalist, and Jim Willie both allege that major financial institutions are manipulating the asset’s growth. Their objective, they claim, is to accumulate XRP at a lower price point before a significant upward movement. Willie suggested that without such manipulation, XRP could have realistically reached between $7 and $8 during its recent run. These analysts view XRP as a potential alternative liquidity solution to the U.S. fiat currency system, which fuels the substantial interest from institutional players.

Despite the current challenging price outlook and alleged manipulation, many market participants appear to be looking forward to October. Historically, October has been a month when the prices of most crypto assets tend to rally. The present low trading volume, which has decreased by 28.6% to $3.83 billion, further suggests a cautious withdrawal by investors, potentially in anticipation of future market movements or a broader rally.