XRP News Today: Ripple ‘Hodlers’ Buying During Iran War

XRP (XRP) price is holding firm after rallying 9.50% in the last 24 hours, even as oil stays elevated near $100 amid the escalating Iran war, highlighting the token’s resilience in a risk-heavy macro environment.

The move comes as on-chain data shows aggressive accumulation by long-term holders and renewed debate around Ripple’s XRP sales strategy, while technical charts warn that a bearish rejection near key resistance could still cap upside and trigger another correction.

Oil Price Remains Around $100

Oil remains the main macro risk hanging over XRP.

As of March 17, the Iran war has kept Brent crude elevated around $100 a barrel, with the Strait of Hormuz still heavily disrupted even as some tankers secured negotiated passage.

The supply shock is now stretching into a third week, trapping a meaningful share of global oil flows and forcing emergency responses such as coordinated reserve releases and alternative routing attempts.

For markets, that keeps stagflation fears alive: higher energy costs raise inflation risk, pressure global growth, and can cap upside in risk assets, including XRP, unless crypto continues to trade as a geopolitical hedge.

XRP Holders Increase Accumulation Amid Iran War

XRP’s long-term holders have been aggressively accumulating since the Iran war began, signaling rising conviction despite macro uncertainty.

Glassnode data indicates a sharp spike in XRP hodler net position change on March 1—just one day after the conflict started—exceeding 351 million XRP, marking the strongest single-day accumulation in months.

The broader trend has remained positive since then, with sustained net accumulation pushing the metric to its highest monthly level since May 2025.

Hodler net position change tracks the 30-day supply shift among long-term investors, with positive readings indicating net accumulation rather than distribution.

The data suggests that, rather than exiting risk, high-conviction XRP holders are using volatility tied to the Iran conflict to build positions, historically a behavior associated with early-stage recovery phases or market bottoms.

Ripple’s XRP Sales Draw Renewed Criticism

Ripple is facing renewed criticism over its XRP sales strategy after the company’s recent share buyback revived debate around how it uses proceeds tied to its large preminted token holdings.

Crypto commentator Zach Rynes argued that Ripple has long sold XRP into the market while using capital generated from its broader business to acquire companies, build products beyond XRP, and support shareholder value through stock buybacks.

It’s simple, Ripple sells premined XRP to retail to increase the enterprise value of Ripple Labs for its own shareholders

Ripple uses these token sale proceeds to acquire real companies, build non-XRP products, and fund Ripple Labs stock buybacks, all to the sole benefit of… https://t.co/G9MSRnDvLX

— Zach Rynes | CLG (@ChainLinkGod) March 16, 2026

In his view, that structure creates a mismatch between Ripple equity holders and XRP holders, with the company able to benefit financially even if XRP or the XRP Ledger fail to capture meaningful long-term value.

The criticism followed comments from Ripple CTO David Schwartz, who reportedly defended XRP sales amid fresh backlash.

Critics say the issue is not just token dilution, but whether value created around Ripple’s ecosystem is ultimately flowing more toward private equity holders than public XRP investors.

XRP Technical Analysis: Bearish Rejection Candle Raises Correction Odds

XRP’s daily chart suggests its recent rebound may be losing steam after the token faced a bearish rejection near the 50-day exponential moving average around $1.55.

Despite recovering from its February lows, XRP remains below both its 50-day and 200-day EMAs, indicating that the broader trend still favors sellers.

The current price structure resembles a bear flag or descending triangle, with lower highs pressing against a key horizontal support zone near $1.25–$1.35.

A decisive breakdown below that range could trigger another wave of selling, while bulls would need a sustained move above $1.55–$1.60 to challenge the bearish outlook.