XRP briefly slipped below the important $1 level on Aug. 16 before bouncing back, while veteran trader Peter Brandt once again made it clear that he has no interest in holding the cryptocurrency.
The discussion started when someone on X challenged Brandt about XRP. In response, he said he does not care about the token and added that if he owned 500,000 XRP, he would immediately sell it and buy Bitcoin instead. His comments reflected his personal preference and were not tied to any actual XRP holdings or new trade.
During the same volatile trading session, XRP dropped below $1 and touched around $0.999 before recovering. It later climbed back to roughly $1.06. There is no evidence that Brandt’s comments caused the price move, but they added to the ongoing debate between Bitcoin supporters and the XRP community.
Even after the rebound, XRP remains far below its all-time high of $3.65, which was reached in July 2025. At current prices, the token is still down more than 70% from that peak.
Brandt has been critical of XRP for years. In March 2025, he pointed to a head-and-shoulders chart pattern and warned that XRP could fall toward $1.07 if support levels broke. XRP has now traded close to that level, although market conditions have changed significantly since that prediction was made.
His latest comments should not be viewed as a new price forecast. Brandt did not give a fresh target for XRP or predict another major decline. He simply repeated that he would rather own Bitcoin than XRP.
Interestingly, on-chain data suggests that selling pressure from large holders may be easing. According to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, the three-month average of XRP whale transfers to Binance has dropped to around $61 million, the lowest level since 2021. Earlier in 2025, those inflows were much higher, reaching hundreds of millions of dollars.
Lower whale deposits to exchanges can sometimes signal reduced selling activity because fewer tokens are being moved to trading platforms. However, this does not automatically mean prices will rise, as market demand also plays a major role.
The biggest question for traders now is whether XRP can hold above the $1 level after its recovery. A brief dip below a key support level does not necessarily mean a long-term breakdown is underway. Traders will be watching price action, trading volume, and overall market sentiment to see if XRP can build momentum above this psychological level.
For now, the facts are simple: XRP briefly fell below $1 before recovering, whale inflows to Binance have dropped to their lowest levels in years, and Peter Brandt continues to prefer Bitcoin over XRP despite the token trading near the level he highlighted in a previous bearish analysis.
