The crypto market is seeing a slowdown in holiday weekend trade, with XRP metrics remaining muted.

At the time of writing, XRP was down 1.14% in the last 24 hours to $1.29 and down 3% weekly. XRP volumes remain muted across the spot and derivatives market.

On spot exchanges, XRP trading volume is just up 8.51% in the last 24 hours to $1.04 billion, an increase from the past day when volumes fell.

In the derivatives market, XRP's volume was down 0.10% to $1.73 billion. Open interest, which refers to the total number of unsettled positions, barely rose, just up 1.26% in the last 24 hours to $2.42 bilion.

The slowdown is not far from what could be expected during the holiday period often marked by thin liquidity. After weeks of lackluster price action in the market, traders continue to show defensive positioning while awaiting the next major catalyst.

Price levels to watch

XRP is entering its fourth day of drop from April 2. The price turned down from $1.36 on Thursday, and bears are striving to pull XRP below the $1.27 support.

If they manage to do that, XRP may drop to the Feb. 6 low of $1.11. This remains a crucial support for buyers to maintain, as a close below it may extend XRP's price drop to the support line of a descending channel pattern, which is around $1.

On the other hand, bears might not be able to pull this feat as bulls might be more likely to put up a defense. In other plans, they will attempt to push XRP's price above the moving averages, especially above the daily MA 50 at $1.39, clearing the path for a recovery to the $1.60 level and then to $2.

The market sentiment will be watched with respect to economic data. The broader test comes with U.S. inflation data on April 9. Wall Street will get the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data on Thursday morning. The PCE is regarded as the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.

If March core PCE surpasses February’s 3.1%, rate-cut expectations might decrease, strengthening the bearish case in the market.