New York, January 15, 2026, 06:26 EST — Premarket
- XRP slipped to about $2.12, falling behind stronger moves in bitcoin and ether during early trading
- Ripple announced it has won preliminary approval for an e-money licence in Luxembourg
- A draft crypto market bill from the U.S. Senate is set for debate in a key committee later Thursday
XRP dipped around 0.5% to $2.12 on Thursday, having fluctuated between $2.09 and $2.17 earlier. Bitcoin and ether gained roughly 2% each, while the wider market remained steady.
The pullback is significant because XRP continues to react to a familiar blend: regulatory news and major institutional trades. Traders are closely monitoring if policy shifts in Washington and Europe spark sustained demand or merely a fleeting surge.
The policy signals came in quick succession. On Wednesday, Ripple revealed a fresh regulatory development in Europe, while U.S. lawmakers launched a debate on overseeing crypto in the spot market — a move that could reshape who’s allowed or willing to hold tokens.
Ripple announced it has secured preliminary approval for an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence from Luxembourg’s financial watchdog, the CSSF. This licence allows the company to issue e-money and offer payment services. “The EU … provides the certainty financial institutions need,” Ripple’s president Monica Long said in a statement. 1
U.S. senators unveiled draft legislation this week to better distinguish tokens classified as securities from those deemed commodities, while expanding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s authority over spot crypto markets. The Senate Banking Committee is set to debate the bill and potential amendments on Thursday. The proposal has met resistance, with banks and the crypto sector clashing over stablecoin-related rules. 2
Industry observers are eyeing a separate Senate draft that introduces a “non-ancillary” label for certain tokens—a technical term linked to whether a token serves as the main asset in an exchange-traded product by Jan. 1, 2026. Jordan Jefferson, DogeOS founder, noted it’s “less about prices and more about compliance posture,” emphasizing the immediate impact would be on eligibility to participate rather than on daily trading activity. 3
Flows tell the other side of the story. On Jan. 13, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs attracted roughly $753.7 million in inflows—the biggest single-day haul since October, according to SoSoValue figures cited by Decrypt. “Price is leading narratives and flows,” Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at Nansen, told Decrypt. 4
XRP’s chart reflects this turbulence: positive developments around Ripple’s licensing efforts often get overshadowed by bitcoin’s swings and fresh regulatory updates. The token has become vulnerable to sharp, rapid reversals as momentum traders jump in and out.
The downside here is clear. Luxembourg’s nod is only preliminary, the U.S. bill hasn’t become law, and crypto regulation politics remain tangled — a volatile mix that could quickly shift sentiment if the committee markup alters key definitions or drags its feet.
