New York, Jan 7, 2026, 07:09 (EST) — Premarket
- XRP slipped in early trading, easing back after a strong start to 2026.
- ETF demand and U.S. regulatory talk have stayed at the center of the trade.
- Macro data and rate expectations remain the next test for risk appetite.
XRP, the token used by Ripple, fell 5.9% to $2.25 in early trading on Wednesday, after touching $2.39 and as low as $2.22. Bitcoin slipped about 2% and ether, the token of the Ethereum network, eased 0.8%, pointing to a broader pullback across major cryptocurrencies.
The dip comes after XRP rose 25% in the first week of 2026, helped by steady buying in U.S.-listed XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs), listed products that trade like stocks. Investors have poured $1.3 billion into XRP ETFs since the first launch in November, data cited by DL News showed. XRP “has the most to gain” if the CLARITY Act advances, Katherine Dowling, president of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, told DL News. 1
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 — known as the CLARITY Act — passed the House in July and was referred to the Senate Banking Committee in September, a congressional record shows. The bill would set a framework for regulating digital commodities and split responsibilities between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, aiming to narrow long-standing gray areas in U.S. crypto oversight. 2
Wall Street’s push into crypto investment products has added to the sense of a widening market. Morgan Stanley filed with the U.S. SEC on Tuesday for ETFs tied to bitcoin and solana, in what Reuters called the first such move by a major U.S. bank, and Morningstar ETF analyst Bryan Armour said the bank’s entry “adds legitimacy” and could prompt others to follow. 3
For XRP, that demand has shown up in “spot” ETFs — meaning the fund holds the underlying token, rather than using futures contracts. Canary Capital’s Canary XRP ETF (XRPC) began trading on Nasdaq on Nov. 13, and Canary founder Steven McClurg said easier access through an ETF could help broaden adoption, according to ETFdb. 4
Bitwise followed with the Bitwise XRP ETF, which it said began trading on Nov. 20 on NYSE under the ticker XRP with a 0.34% management fee. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said XRP now stands on an “equal playing field” in a more crypto-friendly U.S. regulatory environment. 5
But the trade can turn quickly if ETF inflows slow or reverse, and crypto prices often magnify shifts in global risk sentiment. Chart-focused traders are also watching whether XRP holds above the $2.20 area; a break would put the $2 level back in view. Regulatory risk has not vanished, even after the SEC ended its long-running case against Ripple in August 2025, with Ripple agreeing to pay a $125 million fine. 6
