u.today 
A major imbalance in $XRP margin positions has been recorded on the derivatives market, as a six-month downtrend kept pushing quotes lower from the $3.50 peaks, while June's 8.19% drop since the start of the month triggered a mass closure of long positions.
The fall below the psychological $1.25 threshold sparked a long squeeze, during which exchange protection algorithms forcibly liquidated $18.57 million in long positions, while short sellers lost only $1.15 million, according to CoinGlass.
Liquidation on the crypto market in 24 hours, Source:
CoinGlass
This liquidation imbalance, which reached 1,614% and almost 16 to 1, marked a short-term split. While margin participants were being closed out by stop-losses, large funds began buying the dip through the spot market.
Retail panic meets institutional interest for $XRP
The breakdown below $1.25 handed control over the dynamic to automated trading systems, which started liquidating leveraged positions in waves. Market-price selling pushed $XRP down to $1.2264 within hours, dragging the asset into a downward zone from which, if broader market pressure persists, a technical path opens toward a test of the lower Bollinger Band at $0.9521.
However, where speculators were taking losses, spot buyers saw a discount. On the very same day that derivatives platforms were closing retail longs, U.S. spot $XRP ETFs attracted $4.13 million in net inflows.
$XRP price chart on a monthly timeframe, Source:
TradingView
Against the backdrop of large-scale withdrawals from other crypto assets, including more than $519 million in net outflows from Bitcoin ETFs, the stable inflow into $XRP confirms that institutional participants are using this drop for planned position accumulation.
The current washout of excessive leverage moves the market into a phase of positional confrontation, with the total balance of $XRP ETFs holding above $1.4 billion.
If capital inflows into the funds maintain their current pace, the support zone formed around $1.20-$1.22 could become a local bottom, from which consolidation may begin with a target of returning to $1.38.
Otherwise, if broader market negativity outweighs local buying, $XRP will head toward a test of psychological parity near the $1 mark.
