New York, Jan 7, 2026, 10:20 (EST) — Regular session
- XRP falls about 7% to around $2.21, retreating from a $2.39 24-hour high
- Traders weigh cooling risk appetite after an early-2026 crypto run
- Focus turns to ETF flow data and U.S. labor and inflation releases
XRP slipped on Wednesday, down 6.9% over the last 24 hours at about $2.21, after trading as high as $2.39, according to CoinMarketCap data. The token’s market value stood near $134 billion.
The pullback came as a broader crypto rally paused in U.S. morning trade. Bitcoin eased back from a run toward $95,000 earlier this week and XRP fell about 5%, Barron’s reported, pointing to softer tone in tech shares as one drag on risk appetite.
That matters now because XRP had been running hot into the first full trading week of 2026. U.S.-listed spot XRP exchange-traded funds — ETFs, which trade like stocks and give investors exposure without holding the coin — took in about $46 million on Monday and have yet to post a day of net outflows since their mid-November launch, Barron’s wrote, citing CoinGlass and CoinDesk data.
Mainstream finance is also pushing deeper into crypto wrappers. Morgan Stanley filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday for ETFs tied to bitcoin and solana, and Morningstar ETF analyst Bryan Armour said a bank entering the market “adds legitimacy to it, and others could follow.” Reuters
On the chart, XRP dropped through $2.32 — a “support” level where buyers had previously stepped in — and briefly hit the $2.21 area before demand steadied it, CoinDesk reported. Traders often watch those zones for stop-loss triggers and quick reversals. CoinDesk
But the next push may come from macro, not crypto headlines. The ADP report showed U.S. private payrolls rose by 41,000 in December, below economists’ forecast for a 47,000 increase, and High Frequency Economics chief economist Carl Weinberg called the pace “relatively slow.” Pantheon Macroeconomics chief U.S. economist Samuel Tombs warned ADP’s print “continues to attract more attention than warranted” by its track record. Reuters
For XRP bulls, the near-term question is simple: do ETF inflows keep arriving when the tape turns choppy, or does the market start treating the early-January move as a crowded trade. A decisive break below the low-$2.20s would test that story quickly.
The next hard catalyst is Friday’s U.S. Employment Situation report for December, due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, followed by the December CPI release on Jan. 13 and the Federal Reserve’s Jan. 27–28 policy meeting.
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