Analyst Warns XRP Could ‘Shake Out’ Traders Before Major Breakout

XRP needs to push past $1.51 before any real breakout becomes possible, according to market commentator Matt Hughes — and one analyst thinks that moment could arrive this week, but not before the market knocks out the weakest holders first.

A Pattern Years In The Making

MichaelXBT, a widely followed crypto analyst, says XRP has spent months forming a falling wedge on its weekly chart — a structure that typically points toward an upside move once price breaks above the upper boundary.

The coin has been trapped in this pattern since July 2025, when it peaked at $3.66. Since then it has shed about 60%, landing near $1.37 amid a broader market selloff that took hold in October of that year.

The upper boundary of the wedge stopped XRP cold multiple times. Attempts near $3 in late 2025 failed. A January 2026 push stalled at $2.41. Now, with price pressing into the narrowest part of the structure, MichaelXBT believes the next move – the “shakeout” – is close.

XRP will shake you out this week.

Then the breakout will begin.

This is by design.

They want the masses out. pic.twitter.com/wjtT3JRxDL

— Crypto Michael (@MichaelXBT) May 20, 2026

What A Falling Wedge Signals

A falling wedge forms when price slides between two downward-sloping lines that gradually narrow. Selling pressure tends to weaken as the pattern develops.

When price finally breaks above the upper line, it often triggers a sharp move to the upside. That upper line currently sits around the $1.50 to $1.51 price range for XRP — a level Hughes described as the threshold the asset must clear before a breakout can be confirmed.