XRP sentiment hits its most bearish levels since October

XRP's investor sentiment has plunged to its most negative level since October, at the time when Ripple’s primary token is consolidating dangerously close to its yearly lows, according to social-media market analytics forum Santiment Feed. Santiment’s social analysis on XRP has displayed a rise in fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) on XRP at the start of December, contrasting with Bitcoin, whose sentiment was previously bearish but is now neutral ground. The coin’s price has dropped by over 30% over the past two months and is down 9% year-on-year, according to Coingecko.

XRP Bulls Give Way to Fear as Q4 Positive Start Reverses

The earliest bullish surge in Q4 2025 appeared on September 13 and November 8, when price action hovered near the top of the chart, close to roughly $3.2. On the latter date, positive commentary peaked and silenced negative posts, placing XRP firmly inside the “Greed Zone.”

A similar bullish spike appeared again near the end of November, around November 30, when XRP’s price climbed back above $2.45. These two periods are when the fourth-largest coin by market cap had the highest concentration of bullish sentiment and among the highest price points displayed within the last 3 months.

On the other side of the coin, a “Fear Zone” popped up several times in the final quarter on Santiment’s chart, but the deepest negative reading was marked on Thursday. XRP’s price fell close to $1.92 before recovering slightly above $2.1, then a market correction took 4% of the profits away and dragged it down to $2.08 during the day’s close.

This capitulation-style sentiment is similar to levels last seen on November 21 when traders bought XRP en masse to aid a three-day 22% rally, before enthusiasm flipped again into fear and halted the rebound. Yet, some traders may use the latest drop in sentiment to add to their positions ahead of the anticipated “Christmas rally.”

2025: A Strong Year for Ripple, Mixed for XRP

The negative sentiment on XRP in December is not exactly how the community had predicted for the token, owing to how good a year 2025 has been for cross-border payments firm Ripple.

Last year, the San Francisco incorporated financial institution was accused by US President Donald Trump of donating to the cause of his election rival, former Vice President Kamala Harris. Ripple was still in the crosshairs of the US Securities and Exchange Commission at the time, so CEO Brad Garlinghouse met Trump at his residence in Mar-a-Lago to purportedly get on the government’s “good side,” Cryptopolitan reported.

In March, Garlinghouse announced the official end of the company’s multi-year battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to end the case that had dragged on since 2020. The firm paid only a small fraction of the $2 billion the regulator was originally looking for under the Biden administration.

Just one month later, Ripple revealed the acquisition of prime broker Hidden Road in a $1.25 billion deal and later rebranded it as Ripple Prime for institutional clients. Yet, the year’s biggest price hits came in July, when XRP surged to a new all-time high of $3.65.

The breakthrough eclipsed its previous record from 2018, which it had already matched in January 2025 before a steep multi-month correction. If the year had ended in mid-summer, XRP would have logged one of its strongest annual performances.

Institutional appetite for XRP has been a massive relief to bulls, who had been praying for a US spot XRP exchange-traded fund launch before 2025 ended. Since their debut in late November, issuers Canary Capital, Grayscale, and 21Shares accumulated nearly $1 billion in assets from the new products within just 12 days.

According to chart reader and analyst TARA, XRP’s hold above the mid-band of the Gaussian Channel at $2.12 spells a potential return to $2.30. Market watcher Ali Martinez also supported her predictions, saying a breakout toward $2.75 will happen if the coin moves past $2.28.