XRP sentiment hits five-week high but still not rising? Whales buy up + ETF attracts $150 million, why is the price under pressure

February 27 News: On-chain data platform Santiment shows that the XRP sentiment ratio has risen to 2.35, a five-week high; compared to Bitcoin's 1.05 and Ethereum's 1.4, XRP has become one of the few mainstream assets turning optimistic. Behind this improved sentiment are both institutional actions and ecosystem developments.

(Source: Santiment)
Last week, SBI Holdings issued $65 million in on-chain bonds and paid yields to investors using XRP; Aviva Investors plans to tokenize funds on the XRP Ledger. Meanwhile, Brad Garlinghouse joined the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Digital Asset Innovation Advisory Committee. Since February, three European institutions have adopted Ripple infrastructure, combined with nearly $3 billion in mergers and acquisitions in custody and brokerage services, reinforcing long-term expectations.

Market support is also evident. XRP-related ETFs experienced over 40 consecutive days of net inflows before recent suspensions, with a total of about $150 million this year; among them, Bitwise's products attracted $3.04 million in a single day, increasing the total to approximately $256 million. In contrast, Bitcoin and Ethereum products have seen phased outflows, indicating a clear divergence in market structure.

However, prices remain under pressure. XRP is currently around $1.45, down about 35% over the past three months, below the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Resistance levels are at $1.51 and $1.60, while $1.38 is a key support; if broken, it could test the $1.34–$1.31 range. The broader fear and greed index has dropped to 9, with low risk appetite dragging down resilience. Historically, XRP's volatility during risk-averse periods has been greater than Bitcoin's, and this cycle is no exception. Short-term technical and capital indicators are diverging, highlighting the core contradiction of "positive sentiment but stagnant prices."