XRP’s $2.80 Line in the Sand — Cardano Founder Calls XRP a “Sleeping Giant” in $100B DeFi Opportunity

$2.80 Emerges as XRP’s Critical Support Level According to renowned market analyst Ali Martinez, the $2.80 price level has emerged as the most critical support zone for XRP, acting as the key line that could define whether the token’s next move is a rebound or a ￰0￱ weeks of intense market volatility, XRP has held firm above the crucial $2.80 mark, a level analyst Ali Martinez calls both a technical and psychological ￰1￱ warns that a close below could trigger a major correction, while holding this zone may ignite a strong bullish ￰2￱ the time of this writing, XRP was trading at $2.87 per CoinGecko ￰3￱ Technical Picture On-chain and technical data appear to reinforce this ￰4￱ $2.80 region aligns with a cluster of historical trading activity, where significant buying pressure previously ￰5￱ Relative Strength Index (RSI) also suggests that XRP is nearing oversold territory, indicating that buyers may soon step back in to defend the ￰6￱ the other hand, the volume profile reveals dense liquidity between $2.80 and $3.00, a critical battleground for XRP.

A decisive break below this zone could unleash a wave of stop-loss triggers, accelerating a drop toward $2.50. Conversely, defending the $2.80 floor may fuel bullish momentum for a retest of $3.20–$3.40, key resistance levels from past ￰7￱ Founder Sparks Frenzy Over $100B Untapped XRP DeFi Goldmine At a recent crypto conference in Singapore, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson made waves after calling XRP a “sleeping giant” in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ￰8￱ a conversation with Crypto Banter host Ran Neuner, Hoskinson highlighted what he sees as one of the most overlooked opportunities in the blockchain world, the potential for XRP to evolve into a major DeFi ￰9￱ noted that XRP, despite boasting a market valuation exceeding $100 billion, lacks the kind of robust, yield-generating infrastructure that has propelled other networks like Ethereum and Solana into DeFi ￰10￱ said, “There’s almost $100 billion worth of XRP floating around that’s yield-free.

There’s no DeFi ecosystem for it.” Hoskinson acknowledged that with the right infrastructure, XRP could power lending, staking, and liquidity protocols, unlocking on-chain yield, boosting token utility, and fueling greater investor ￰11￱ successful, such development could position XRP as a formidable force in DeFi, competing with networks that currently dominate decentralized finance ￰12￱ a result, Hoskinson’s perspective reinforces a growing sentiment in the crypto space that the next phase of blockchain growth may come not from new tokens, but from awakening sleeping giants like XRP with massive untapped ￰13￱ As XRP continues to consolidate amid broader crypto uncertainty, the $2.80 level stands as a battleground between bulls and bears.

A firm hold above it could mark the start of another upward wave, potentially rekindling momentum toward the $3 ￰14￱ the other hand, Charles Hoskinson highlights a key crypto insight that XRP’s vast valuation and liquidity are only the ￰15￱ building native yield-generating infrastructure, XRP could evolve from a transactional token into a DeFi powerhouse, unlocking billions in untapped value and realizing its full potential as a “sleeping giant” in the blockchain space.