Santiment: FOMO on XRP and Ether hits a five-week peak as sentiment turns bullish

Traders in Ether (ETH) and XRP have turned markedly more upbeat, with crypto analytics firm Santiment flagging the strongest fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) readings for both tokens in five weeks. The shift comes even as prices struggle to establish sustained momentum, suggesting sentiment may be running ahead of market action. In a July 13 post on X, Santiment said XRP's bull-to-bear ratio climbed to 3.02, indicating more than three positive posts for every negative one. ETH followed at 2.31, which the firm characterized as "slight FOMO territory." Bitcoin (BTC) was far more muted at 1.40, pointing to comparatively balanced positioning. Santiment noted that both BTC and ETH started Monday on firmer footing before fading through the session, adding that crowds often get loud at the wrong time. "Crypto typically moves opposite to what the crowd is loudly expecting," the firm wrote. It warned that when optimism spikes in XRP or ETH while prices are already dipping, it can raise near-term downside risk or slow any rebound. By contrast, Bitcoin's flatter sentiment could leave more room for a rally, as the market has not fully embraced the "higher prices next" narrative. Trader Xaif Crypto echoed the view, arguing that calmer BTC sentiment "means more room to run," while heavier optimism around XRP and ETH could cap their immediate recovery. Price action has been mixed. XRP fell below the $1.08 resistance level highlighted by analyst Cryptorphic and was trading around $1.07 at the time of writing. That marks about a 5% decline over the past seven days and nearly 7% over the last month. Cryptorphic said XRP remains vulnerable while trading under $1.08, with lower levels looking increasingly likely. ETH has held up better, changing hands closer to $1,800 than $1,700 after gaining about 1% over the past week and more than 6% over the last 30 days. It briefly moved above $1,800 over the weekend before pulling back. Several market watchers have suggested the current zone could support a move toward $2,500. Bitcoin slipped slightly over the last day after a strong start to July, when it rebounded from around $57,700 to $64,000. It is currently trading below $63,000. Wallets holding between 10,000 and 100,000 BTC added 11,000 BTC over the past week, signaling ongoing dip-buying demand amid choppy conditions. On the flows and on-chain front, XRP's retail enthusiasm contrasts with signs of cooling institutional and whale activity. Spot XRP ETFs posted their first week of net outflows in more than two months. On-chain data also showed a sharp decline in XRP transactions above $1 million, dropping from 70 to just 2 in roughly a week, while new wallet creation on the XRP Ledger has slowed compared with earlier in the year.