NEW YORK, December 30, 2025, 10:03 ET — Regular session
XRP was little changed on Tuesday morning, trading at about $1.87, as investors headed into the final days of the year with crypto volumes still subdued. The token was up about 0.1% over the past 24 hours, CoinMarketCap data showed.
The muted move matters because crypto has become tightly tied to U.S. rate expectations and cross-asset risk sentiment, while many market participants are away for the holidays. Thin liquidity — fewer active buyers and sellers — can make prices more sensitive to relatively small orders.
Research firm 10x Research said in a note dated Dec. 29 that crypto trading volumes were running about 30% below their long-term average, and warned that a “calm on the surface” market can be fragile underneath. The firm also said bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continued to see outflows, citing bitcoin outflows of about $940 million over the last seven days. 10x Market Update
Bitcoin, the bellwether for the sector, traded around $87,942 and was little changed over 24 hours, while ether rose about 2.3% to roughly $2,993, CoinMarketCap showed.
ETFs are stock-market funds that track an asset and trade like a share. When investors pull money from spot crypto ETFs, fund managers may need to sell the underlying coins, which can weigh on prices during periods of thin demand.
In Washington, investors have also been tracking scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s shifting approach to crypto enforcement. Representative Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, asked committee chairman French Hill to hold an oversight hearing with SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, according to a letter released by House Democrats.
On the macro side, the dollar held steady ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting, which Reuters reported are expected to shed light on disagreements among policymakers over the path for rates in 2026. “We think the dollar is going to range trade around current levels versus the key crosses,” said Zurich Insurance Group’s chief market strategist Guy Miller. Reuters
XRP is the token associated with crypto payments firm Ripple Labs. The SEC ended its long-running lawsuit against Ripple in August, leaving in place a $125 million fine and closing one of the industry’s highest-profile cases, Reuters reported.
The token traded between roughly $1.84 and $1.87 over the past 24 hours, with turnover around $1.7 billion, CoinMarketCap showed.
Traders will watch the Fed minutes later on Tuesday for any sign the central bank is leaning toward faster or slower rate cuts, a key input for risk assets broadly. Crypto investors have also focused on whether ETF outflows ease as year-end portfolio and tax positioning rolls off.
10x Research flagged a busy early-January macro calendar — including U.S. jobs data on Jan. 9 and consumer price inflation data on Jan. 13 — as potential catalysts once liquidity returns after the holidays.
For now, the near-term test for XRP is whether it can hold above its recent low as broader crypto markets navigate a low-volume, headline-sensitive stretch into 2026.
