• XRP bulls on the ropes as squeeze metrics flash red.
• Ripple to $3? Only if Bitcoin smashes the supply wall.

Ripple [XRP] just slid 4% as Bitcoin traders hit the brakes around the $105k resistance mark.

At press time, XRP was hanging around $2.42, battling to break past $2.72 resistance while leaning on support near its 50-day EMA at $2.27.

If it can hold that line, a push toward $3.00 could be on the cards.

But with Bitcoin [BTC] playing cautious, the whole market’s feeling the pressure. However, if BTC breaks above $105k, can we expect altcoins like XRP to bounce back hard?

Bitcoin squeeze tightens, leaving Ripple in limbo

High-cap altcoins are stuck in chop city, trading well below their weekly highs as Bitcoin’s liquidity crunch keeps the market on edge. 

Roughly $29 million in longs got wiped in the past 24 hours alone — classic leverage puke. Zoom into the 4-hour chart, and the story’s the same: Bull-side exposure is getting steamrolled. 

Bitcoin’s rally is stalling near the critical $105,000 resistance. Momentum is fading, technicals are running hot, and holders are locking in profits — all classic signs of an overheated setup.

Shorts are clearly stepping in to fade the euphoria.

XRP isn’t escaping the heat either. Short-sellers are in the driver’s seat, dominating order flow and ambushing bullish entries.

Long liquidations have surged to $16.2 million, accounting for nearly 80% of total XRP wipeouts.

Unless Bitcoin flips $105k with conviction, expect liquidity squeezes to persist — and that makes XRP’s path beyond $2.60 a tough climb in the short term.

BTC holds the key to XRP’s $3 play?

Recently, XRP briefly flipped Tether [USDT] in market cap, claiming the third spot among crypto heavyweights. While short-lived, it delivered a strong psychological jolt to XRP bulls.

As AMBCrypto flagged earlier, with BTC grinding toward a local top, the rotation narrative is heating up. 

Right on cue, XRP/ETH tagged a structural support zone, and with ETH looking overextended, the reversal play lit up. 

Result? XRP’s market cap blasted past $150 billion, riding a momentum burst straight out of the rotation playbook. 

The psychological impact? Tangible. Binance reserves for XRP slid from 2.906 billion to 2.89 billion – signaling active offloading into cold wallets or strategic accumulation.

Overall, BTC’s sideways chop is priming the pump for altcoin inflows, but the real fireworks will light up when BTC shatters the $105k resistance. 

That’s when short squeezes will rip through, and XRP is perfectly positioned to capitalize on that liquidity squeeze.

With robust on-chain demand building a solid foundation, hitting $3 XRP isn’t just a pipe dream. It’s a build-up waiting for a Bitcoin-fueled breakout.