Crypto Carnage: When Giants Fall—BTC Breaks Support, ETH Faces Critical Test, XRP Leads the Rout

The crypto market is painted crimson this week, and it’s not a minor correction anymore. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP are all bleeding hard—down roughly 8%, 9%, and 10% respectively—forcing every trader to face the same uncomfortable question: Where does this actually bottom?

The Unraveling: Market Sentiment Shifts Violently

What started as a pullback has morphed into something uglier. The bullish narrative that dominated just days ago has evaporated. Now the conversation isn’t “buy the dip”—it’s “where’s the floor?” The tone-setting came when major supports cracked one after another, dragging retail and leverage traders into forced liquidations.

Bitcoin’s Critical Breakdown: $90K Was Supposed to Hold

Bitcoin just surrendered the $90,000 line that everyone thought was bulletproof. Here’s what happened: BTC sliced through the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement at $94,253 (the key level between April’s $74,508 low and October’s $126,299 peak), and though bulls tried mounting a defense at $90K, Thursday’s 5% dump took prices down to $86,637. By Friday, BTC was languishing near $85,900.

Current real-time data shows Bitcoin trading around $92K, but the damage to sentiment is already done. For traders who banked on $90K as the immovable floor, this is a reckoning. The next serious support sits at $85,000—lose that, and you’re staring at the $80K round number, which separates a normal bull-market correction from a full structural reversal.

The daily RSI has cratered to 23, signaling extreme oversold conditions. That should mean a bounce is coming. But here’s the catch: extreme oversold doesn’t guarantee a bottom; it just means panic selling is in control. For bulls to regain credibility, reclaiming $90,000 is mandatory—it’s the trap-the-shorts moment everyone’s watching.

Ethereum: The $3K Fortress Collapses

Ethereum got rejected hard at the $3,592 trendline last week. The market said “no thanks,” and then Thursday sealed the fate: ETH closed below $3,017, a level that had anchored the whole consolidation range. Now that support has flipped into resistance—textbook price action mechanics.

Trading at $3.22K in real-time data, Ethereum isn’t in free fall right now, but the breakdown still hit hard. On Friday, ETH dipped to $2,791, and the next logical defense sits at $2,749 (61.8% Fibonacci). If that cracks, the market shifts from “correcting within a bull trend” to “searching for the real bottom.”

The technical damage is severe: traders who accumulated in the $3,017 range are now underwater, and their bids are becoming overhead supply (aka resistance). The RSI is also heavily bearish. Until ETH reclaims $3,017—which is now the primary battleground—expect any rallies to be short-lived relief bounces, not trend reversals.

XRP’s Brutal Route: Psychology Meets Physics

XRP has been the weakest link this week, and psychology is playing a major role. After rejection from the 50-day exponential moving average at $2.47, a 7% slide turned into a 10% rout by Thursday. Now trading below $2, XRP has surrendered the psychological $2.00 mark—and that triggers algorithmic selling pressure automatically.

Current data shows XRP at $2.25, suggesting some stabilization, but the underlying picture remains hostile. If selling resumes, the chart points to $1.77 as the next major stabilization zone—where longer-term accumulators might actually show up. However, the immediate trend is undeniably bearish.

That said, the RSI at 32 means the rubber band is stretched. Fresh short entries here are increasingly risky because the reward-to-risk ratio is deteriorating. A snap-back rally would face immediate hurdles at $2.35, but the real work happens if XRP can reclaim the 50-day EMA at $2.47. Until then, any bounces are likely trap moves for traders looking to exit positions, not the start of a reversal.

The Bigger Picture: When Is the Bleeding Over?

Cross-coin correlations are tight right now—everything’s moving together. The domino effect is real: Bitcoin breaks, Ethereum follows, and XRP collapses hardest. Institutional positioning likely plays a role, but so does emotional capitulation at retail levels.

The oversold conditions on all three (RSI in the danger zone) suggest the market is emotionally drained. Historically, such extremes do precede sharp counter-trend moves. But “precede” doesn’t mean “immediately guarantee.” The bottom will likely be defined by either:

1. Buyers stepping in at support zones (Bitcoin at $85K, Ethereum at $2,749, XRP at $1.77)
2. Sentiment capitulation—when no one wants to buy anymore, that’s often when the reversal starts

What’s Next for Traders?

Don’t get caught chasing bounces that fizzle. The path of least resistance remains lower until key supports are reclaimed. For those holding long positions: patience is painful, but it’s the only move right now. For those considering entries: oversold doesn’t mean “buy immediately.” Wait for confirmation at support zones and volume exhaustion signals before adding to positions.

The week may end in red, but extreme conditions like these are exactly where the next big moves originate—trouble is, direction isn’t predetermined yet.