XRP’s Brief $1.70 Spike May Have Been a Liquidity Mirage

According to Kamilah Stevenson, XRP briefly printed $1.70 around midnight Central Time before rapidly reversing, leaving many holders unaware of the move until the following morning. She said the token had climbed from roughly $1 to $1.50 before the brief spike, then pulled back sharply.

The Wealth Doctor's central point was that exchanges operate separate order books, meaning prices can move differently across Bitstamp, Kraken, OKX and other venues. When sell offers are sparse, a large market buy can consume available liquidity quickly and push the quoted price far higher than where most trading occurs.

“A dramatic number does not require a dramatic amount of money,” she said, arguing that it can simply reflect “an absence on the other side.” She applied the same explanation to the reported roughly 37% downside wick, suggesting that selling hit a thin book on one venue rather than representing a broad market-level collapse.

Dr. Kamilah Stevenson attributed the broader crypto rally to three factors: a U.S. Treasury announcement on buying back longer-dated debt, which she said lowered interest rates; a more constructive policy tone following a White House crypto meeting and discussion of the Clarity Act; and a heavily short-positioned derivatives market.

She said about $3 billion in crypto positions were liquidated in one day, with roughly 92% tied to traders betting against the market. Over four days, she cited approximately $3.78 billion in short liquidations versus about $687 million in long liquidations, while cautioning viewers not to treat those figures as exact.

Forced buying from liquidated shorts can create a self-reinforcing rally: rising prices close short positions, which requires more buying and can pressure the next group of shorts. Stevenson stressed that this does not necessarily mean a sudden wave of new long-term conviction in XRP.

She nonetheless believes a case can be made that crypto has formed a bottom, citing the changed policy backdrop and removal of bearish pressure. But she also pointed to an estimated $3.6 billion in XRP open interest still outstanding. On the largest exchange, she said open interest had risen nearly 28%, with 72% of accounts positioned long before a dip.

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