New York, Jan 23, 2026, 10:16 a.m. ET — Regular session
- XRP dipped during early New York trading, following the broader weakness in crypto.
- Attention stayed on Ripple-linked assets following Binance’s listing of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin.
- Traders are gearing up for the Federal Reserve’s rate decision next week.
XRP fell below the $2 mark again Friday, dropping roughly 1% to trade near $1.90. Bitcoin and ether also dipped, dragging the wider crypto market down in the U.S. morning session. 1
The timing is crucial as Ripple’s new dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, has launched trading on Binance, introducing an XRP/RLUSD pair on one of the largest platforms. This move offers traders a fresh, liquid way to access Ripple-related assets amid growing macroeconomic uncertainty. 2
Crypto’s been moving more like a rate play lately. Whenever yields tick up or the Fed turns cautious, the non-yielding assets tend to drop sharply.
Ripple states that RLUSD is engineered to maintain a steady value of one U.S. dollar. It’s issued directly on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum and supported by a segregated reserve made up of cash and cash equivalents. According to the company, XRP plays the role of a bridge asset, while RLUSD is intended for price-stable payments and settlements. 3
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse sounded optimistic in Davos, telling CNBC he expects crypto to reach “an all-time high” within the next year, according to DL News. Yet, the same piece highlighted renewed tension in U.S. market-structure talks, quoting Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong saying he’d “rather have no bill than a bad bill” after the exchange withdrew support for the proposed “Clarity Act.” 4
Investors were weighing fresh U.S. inflation figures that cooled expectations for swift rate cuts. The Fed’s favored measure, core PCE, climbed 2.8% year-over-year in November. According to a Reuters report, policymakers are widely expected to hold rates steady at next week’s meeting. 5
New crypto-linked products keep hitting the market. Bitwise and Proficio Capital Partners introduced a “currency debasement” ETF focused on bitcoin and precious metals. Proficio’s Bob Haber described the move toward these assets as a “long-term secular trend,” Reuters reported. 6
For XRP, the immediate question is if RLUSD trading will boost steady volumes throughout Ripple’s ecosystem or merely shuffle flows between trading pairs.
But the risk is clear: XRP often reacts sharply to policy news and changes in risk sentiment. A hawkish Fed statement or another setback in U.S. crypto legislation might trigger a swift sell-off by traders.
The Federal Reserve’s policy decision is set for Jan. 28, with investors focused on the statement and subsequent press conference for clues on any shift in the rate trajectory. 7
