New York, Feb 5, 2026, 10:07 (EST) — Regular session
- XRP dropped nearly 12% over the past 24 hours amid choppy trading and higher volumes
- Bitcoin slipped below $70,000 amid concerns over rates and tightening liquidity weighing on risk assets
- Ripple rolled out a new Hyperliquid link for Ripple Prime, aiming to boost institutional access to DeFi
XRP took a hard hit Thursday, tumbling roughly 12% in the past 24 hours to hover near $1.37. Throughout that period, it swung between about $1.34 and $1.56, according to CoinMarketCap data.
The drop followed a broad crypto sell-off sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice of former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, raising concerns over tighter liquidity. “The market fears a hawk with him,” said Manuel Villegas Franceschi of Julius Baer’s next generation research team, noting that Warsh is expected to push for shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet. Reuters
Ripple, closely linked to the XRP ecosystem, pushed to sustain the institutional storyline despite falling prices. On Feb. 4, it announced that Ripple Prime, its institutional prime brokerage platform, now supports the decentralized derivatives venue Hyperliquid. This move broadens access to on-chain trading and risk management tools.
Decentralised finance, known as DeFi, involves trading and lending powered by blockchain software instead of traditional brokers. Cross-margining lets traders tap a single collateral pool across several positions, helping big players lower funding expenses and tighten risk control.
XRP’s main issue at the moment is timing. In a market behaving like a leveraged tech play, investors are quick to sell off anything tied to easy money and steady inflows, no matter the product news.
XRP’s legal cloud lifted after Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dropped their appeals in August 2025, ending the drawn-out battle, Capital.com reported in a case summary.
But that environment doesn’t shield the token from sharp, mechanical sell-offs. When bitcoin plunges sharply, smaller coins tend to swing even more, partly due to thinner liquidity and the rapid chain reaction of liquidations.
Ripple’s Hyperliquid link isn’t without delays. Even if institutions like the infrastructure, shifting real trading volume takes time — and measuring that amid a widespread de-risking is tricky.
After a short government shutdown disrupted the schedule, traders are dealing with a packed slate of U.S. macro data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the January jobs report, delayed by the shutdown, will drop next Wednesday. The January CPI figures are set to follow on Friday.
The upcoming dates — Feb. 11 for jobs data and Feb. 13 for CPI — will be key tests for crypto prices. XRP, in particular, is expected to remain linked to rate expectations and the market’s shifting risk appetite.
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