New York, January 29, 2026, 06:21 EST — Regular session underway.
- XRP dropped roughly 3%, slipping to about $1.86 as major tokens took a hit.
- Ripple grabbed headlines with its new “Ripple Treasury” platform and a key ruling from the Ninth Circuit memo.
- Attention turns to Feb. 2 White House discussions on the stalled “Clarity Act” and stablecoin rewards
XRP dipped 3.1% to $1.86 by 6:21 a.m. EST on Thursday, after reaching $1.94 earlier. Bitcoin lost around 1.7%, while ether dropped close to 3.0%.
The decline followed the launch of “Ripple Treasury” by Ripple’s GTreasury unit, which markets it as a unified platform for managing corporate cash and digital assets. GTreasury highlighted that cross-border transfers could settle in RLUSD, a stablecoin pegged to the dollar, touting settlement times of “3–5 seconds” by using digital assets as an intermediary currency. (GTreasury)
Late Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld summary judgment in favor of Ripple in a class action filed by an XRP purchaser. The court ruled the federal claims were blocked by the Securities Act’s three-year statute of repose — a strict deadline starting from the security’s initial public offering. (Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Ripple is pitching the treasury acquisition as a solution to sluggish settlements and locked-up liquidity. Back in October, when the company announced its $1 billion purchase of GTreasury, CEO Brad Garlinghouse pointed to money being caught in “slow, outdated payments systems.” GTreasury’s CEO, Renaat Ver Eecke, described the deal as a “watershed moment for treasury management.” (GTreasury)
Macro factors played a role as well. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged at 3.50%–3.75%. Chair Jerome Powell described the economy as “solid” and said the Fed is “well-positioned” to pause and watch incoming data before any further adjustments. (Reuters)
Safe-haven demand showed up strongly in other areas. Gold surged 4% on Wednesday, pushing close to $5,400 an ounce. That rally has kept risk appetite patchy across markets, including crypto. (Reuters)
There’s a sharper XRP-specific risk lurking: will Ripple’s product strategy actually drive up XRP usage or push it to the sidelines? CryptoSlate points out that the new treasury platform relies on RLUSD for settlements, which might restrict XRP to just a bridge asset role in select corridors. (CryptoSlate)
If that happens, it doesn’t necessarily spell immediate price drops. But it does push the definition of “adoption” higher — rolling out software is straightforward, securing a steady stream of payments is a tougher challenge.
Washington is next in line. The White House has scheduled a Feb. 2 meeting with bank and crypto leaders to break the deadlock over the Senate’s “Clarity Act,” focusing on the debate over “interest and other rewards” tied to stablecoins—digital tokens typically pegged to the dollar. Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, said the group is “proud to participate.” Meanwhile, Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber, praised the White House for “pulling all sides to the negotiating table.” Standard Chartered projects stablecoins could siphon around $500 billion in deposits from U.S. banks by the close of 2028. (Reuters)
