The altcoin market has been one of the major losers in this bear market, with large-cap cryptocurrencies like XRP, BNB, and Solana taking a significant share of the losses. In fact, TradingView data shows that the TOTAL3 index (representing the crypto market capitalization, excluding BTC, ETH, and stablecoins) has fallen by more than $544 billion during this bear market correction.
As highlighted by a popular pseudonymous analyst, this dynamic seems to be changing, with capital repositioning since early February (and the TOTAL3 market cap surging by about $125 billion in that period). According to the crypto pundit, XRP is one of the altcoins to keep an eye on during the ongoing market shift.
Is A Return To $3.12 Possible For XRP In 2026?
In a Quicktake post on the CryptoQuant platform, crypto analyst Darkfost explained that, despite the improving dynamics, several investors are still betting against the altcoin market at the moment. This trend is evident in the XRP Funding Rates metric, which is currently experiencing its longest and most negative run in years.
The Funding Rates metric measures the periodic fee exchanged between traders in the derivatives market for a particular cryptocurrency (XRP, in this case). A negative funding rate suggests that short traders are dominating the market and betting against the asset’s price, capturing an overall bearish sentiment.
Darkfost wrote in the Quicktake post:
Here, funding rates are aggregated over a 30 day period in order to better capture the prevailing sentiment among derivatives traders.
Darkfost revealed that the XRP Funding Rates on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, have remained negative for the past three months. This has been the case despite the altcoin’s price rising by more than 27% over the same period.
Source: CryptoQuant
According to the on-chain analyst, a strong setup like this, especially after such a deep correction as the 50% drop in 2026 Q1, could be a signal that a potential reversal is on the horizon for XRP. Darkfost highlighted that this scenario has played out in the past (as recently as April 2025), when the altcoin’s price fell to around $1.95, before a bullish recovery that sparked a 126% rally.
If history were to repeat itself, the current Funding Rates setup could see XRP’s value more than double over the next few months. A 126% move from the current price point would see the altcoin reclaim the $3.2 mark.
XRP Price At A Glance
As of this writing, the price of XRP is around $1.42, with no significant movement in the past 24 hours. According to data from TradingView, the cryptocurrency is up by more than 2% in the past seven days.
The price of XRP on the daily timeframe | Source: XRPUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
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