New York, Jan 16, 2026, 06:25 EST — Premarket
- XRP slipped in early Friday trading, following a weaker trend seen among major tokens.
- Leaders of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee pushed back a scheduled markup on legislation targeting digital-asset market structure.
- Ripple highlighted a new regulatory win in Europe, securing preliminary approval in Luxembourg.
XRP dropped roughly 2.6% in the last 24 hours, hitting around $2.06 and hovering near the day’s low after early-week gains stumbled on renewed policy doubts in Washington. The token saw about $2.5 billion in trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap data. (CoinMarketCap)
The Senate Banking Committee’s markup on crypto market structure, a key near-term event for traders, has been pulled from the schedule. Chairman Tim Scott announced the postponement, citing ongoing bipartisan talks. He described the markup as the stage where lawmakers debate and amend the bill before moving to a vote. (Senate Banking Committee)
This is crucial for XRP, given it’s among the tokens most affected by evolving plans from lawmakers and regulators on overseeing trading, custody, and payments involving crypto assets. Ripple, meanwhile, is pushing to develop regulated infrastructure aimed at institutions, and the market continues to price in that narrative as it unfolds.
Ripple announced Wednesday it has won preliminary approval for an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from Luxembourg’s CSSF, the country’s payments regulator. This license lets companies issue and transfer electronic money within a regulated framework. Ripple called this “green light” a key step toward full authorization, pending certain conditions, and said it will support scaling its Ripple Payments service across the EU. “The EU was amongst the first major jurisdictions to introduce comprehensive digital assets regulation,” said Ripple President Monica Long. (Ripple)
XRP’s drop coincided with a wider pullback in major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin slipped roughly 1.5% in the past 24 hours, and ether dropped around 1.9%, according to data from CoinGecko. (CoinGecko)
Industry pushback heightened concerns over the U.S. bill. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced the exchange pulled its backing for the Senate Banking draft “as written,” saying: “We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill.” Key points of contention include “stablecoin rewards” — yield-like incentives some firms give users holding dollar-pegged tokens — and clauses affecting DeFi, the decentralized finance space involving blockchain-driven trading and lending without traditional middlemen. (Pymnts)
Macro indicators weighed on risk assets as the U.S. session got underway. Robust U.S. economic data prompted traders to dial back bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts. That sent the dollar climbing to a six-week peak, tightening the screws on more speculative parts of the market. (Reuters)
Another scenario is straightforward to imagine. Should lawmakers toughen the bill’s wording or talks stall with no set deadline, crypto markets might see it as yet another postponement of the “rules of the road” many institutions are waiting for. Plus, Ripple’s nod from Luxembourg is just preliminary; missing any outstanding requirements could undermine the regulatory momentum that at times has bolstered XRP.
Traders are keeping an eye on two key points: if XRP can stay above the lower end of its recent trading range, and when the Senate Banking Committee will reschedule its session. The committee’s markup calendar currently shows the Jan. 15 executive session as “POSTPONED,” with the time still “TBD.” (Senate Banking Committee)
