There is a quiet tension in XRP’s price action right now because something’s about to happen — but the direction is not obvious yet. The Bollinger Bands, popular volatility indicator, are sketching out two very different possibilities, and which one plays out depends entirely on whether the weekly or daily chart takes the lead.

On the bigger picture, the weekly chart’s lower Bollinger Band sits at $1.696, a level that, if hit, would mean XRP has given into the broader market’s fatigue, slipping into a phase where support gets tested and weak hands get shaken out.

It would not be a crash, necessarily, just a slow grind downward, the kind that makes people wonder if the coin has lost its momentum. But that is only one way this could go.

Because over on the daily chart, things look a little less grim. The middle Bollinger Band is stretching at $2.275, and if XRP can accumulate the energy to push up there, it would suggest that the recent sideways movement was just a pause, not a prelude to a drop. It would not be a moonshot — just a steady climb back into a more comfortable range.

What is interesting here is not just the two possible outcomes but the fact that the bands themselves are tightening, that classic squeeze that usually means a bigger move is coming. 

The question is not if XRP will break out of this — it is which way. A drop to $1.696 would confirm the bears are in control, at least for now. A rally to $2.275, though, and suddenly the bulls have room to breathe again.

For anyone watching XRP right now, the playbook is simple: watch those bands, watch the volume, and do not assume anything until the chart picks a side.