As XRP battled to rally above a major resistance level around $1.66 for around 32 days through September 23, 2026, Ali Martinez, a popular cryptocurrency analyst, has mapped key triggers for a rally towards a target of $2.
This crypto expert expects XRP price to hit $2 if it consistently closes above a potential inverse head-and-shoulders (H&S) pattern.
“A decisive break above the neckline could confirm the pattern and trigger another 30% rally toward $2,” Martinez noted.
This analyst identified the neckline of a possible inverse H&S pattern at $1.5663. However, he argued that a rally towards a target of $2 trickles down to a resistance level near $1.6, which must be broken.
Martinez also based his bullish thesis for XRP on notable demand from large whale holders, typically XRP Ledger (XRPL) addresses holding between 10 million and 100 million tokens. Specifically, he highlighted that these whale investors accumulated 1.54 billion tokens, valued at about $2 billion, despite this altcoin being trapped in a consolidation.
Notably, Martinez identified the resistance level around $1.6 based on its UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD), an on-chain metric that shows the amount of a crypto that last moved within specific price ranges, hence revealing where investors acquired their coins.
Furthermore, nearly 2.5 billion tokens were traded around $1.60, thereby creating a strong on-chain resistance level.
XRP price performance
Although XRP price experienced heavy capitulation during the first half of 2026, Martinez believes a new uptrend has begun. Moreover, XRP price has formed two major high-highs, confirming a possible higher low, which is a characteristic of a rising market.
As such, Martinez anticipates this altcoin to rally to its highest level since January 20, 2026, amid a confirmed $2 billion demand from large whales.
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