Over the past week, 472 million XRP worth about $652 million flowed into Binance, signaling elevated selling pressure amid U.S.–Iran and broader Middle East tensions. XRP recently climbed 2% toward $1.40, with analysts watching $1.50 as a key resistance and $1.31 as major support that could decide whether the price rebounds or slides toward $1.

Rising geopolitical risk around the Strait of Hormuz, a route handling about 20% of global oil shipments according to analyst Pumpius, is heightening market volatility and exposing weaknesses in cross-border payment flows. Pumpius says US and Israel strikes on Iran have cut vessel activity through the strait by roughly 70%, raising concerns over energy supply and potential oil price spikes. In this environment, Ripple’s XRP and its ISO 20022-aligned infrastructure are being framed as tools for more resilient international settlement, while Dubai’s regulators and companies expand their use of the XRP Ledger for tokenized diamonds and real estate under Ripple’s growing global licensing footprint.

On March 2, Ripple's recently acquired prime brokerage unit Hidden Road was added to the DTCC's National Securities Clearing Corporation directory, paving the way to route institutional post-trade volume onto the XRP Ledger. The $1.25 billion acquisition closed in late October and the firm was rebranded as Ripple Prime, which plans to use XRPL's speed and low costs and is already deploying the RLUSD stablecoin as collateral in various prime brokerage products.

Over the weekend, escalating conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran coincided with more than 472 million XRP, valued at about $652 million, moving to Binance, according to CryptoQuant data. XRP’s price swung between $1.27 and $1.43 before stabilizing near $1.35, while large inflows and modest ETF subscriptions have raised questions about potential short-term selling pressure and market direction.

On 2 March 2026, Pi Network entered a pivotal stage, enforcing a mandatory node upgrade toward Protocol v23 while preparing to launch its decentralized exchange on 12 March 2026. The project reports over 16.2 million mainnet migrations, 17.7 million KYC-verified users, more than 421,000 active nodes and 300+ mainnet apps, with circulating supply at roughly 9.3–9.4 billion PI out of 100 billion. PI changes hands around $0.16–$0.19, down over 90% from its $2.10 peak in February 2025, and analysts are divided on whether upcoming upgrades and the DEX can offset dilution risks from unreleased tokens.

On-chain data over the past week indicate that about 470 million XRP, worth roughly $472 million, have flowed from the XRP Ledger to Binance, raising the risk of a sell-off. During the same period, XRP slipped 1.08% to $1.36 as daily volume dropped 25%, pointing to weaker liquidity. If these inflows trigger selling, analysts see a potential retest of $1.30 support, while sustained market strength could instead push the price toward $1.50.

A recent technical analysis compares XRP's long-term price structure with Amazon's historic breakout above a major resistance band. XRP has faced a horizontal ceiling for about eight years, with its neckline near $3.60 and a most recent peak at $3.65 in July 2025, while the price now trades around $1.35. The analyst notes a series of higher lows under this resistance, suggesting that if XRP mimics Amazon's prior pattern, a breakout could potentially trigger an extended upside phase.

Major Ethereum holder BitMine is currently facing unrealized losses of $7.34 billion as the ETH price hovers around the $1,900 level. The firm's large, leveraged Ethereum position has come under pressure after ETH fell 26.59% over the past 30 days to about $1,941, with trading volumes and open interest also declining. BitMine recently expanded its ETH holdings to 4,371,497 ETH worth $8.68 billion and staked more than half of its reserves, underscoring its long-term bullish bet despite the sharp drawdown.