NEW YORK, Jan 21, 2026, 13:57 ET — Regular session
XRP hovered near $1.89 on Wednesday, slipping 0.17% in the past 24 hours, unable to break above the $2 mark. Trading volume clocked in at roughly $4.0 billion over the same period. According to CoinMarketCap, XRP holds the fifth spot by market capitalization.
The shift follows traders dialing back risk asset exposure after U.S. President Donald Trump revived tariff threats against European nations linked to Greenland. That rattled U.S. stocks, sparking their sharpest one-day drop in three months on Tuesday. Bitcoin tumbled more than 3% during the selloff, despite usually finding some support in defensive moves.
Leverage played a key role Monday as crypto markets saw $869.5 million in positions liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data cited by Investing.com. Most of those wiped-out bets were long positions. (Liquidations occur when leveraged trades hit margin limits.) XRP dropped 4.7%, slipping below $2 during the sell-off.
Over the past 24 hours, XRP fluctuated roughly between $1.88 and $1.95, per Kraken pricing. The $2 level has regained attention, largely because it attracts concentrated orders on both sides.
Broader crypto dipped as well. Bitcoin slipped roughly 1.2%, hovering near $88,338, while ether dropped about 2.2% to close to $2,924, per market data.
Anthony Scaramucci, founder and managing partner at SkyBridge Capital, pointed to policy uncertainty as the driver behind ongoing market volatility. “This is more of a timing issue than a direction issue,” he noted, maintaining that the long-term outlook for digital assets remains intact despite short-term turbulence hitting crowded trades. Reuters
Interest-rate expectations continue to influence crypto, which often follows wider financial trends. A Reuters poll showed every economist surveyed predicts the Federal Reserve will hold rates steady at its Jan. 27-28 meeting. Jeremy Schwartz of Nomura added that the Fed is likely to “remain on hold” until the end of Chair Jerome Powell’s term in May. Reuters
The downside risk is clear: one more shock headline or a fresh wave of forced selling could drive XRP sharply back to recent lows if liquidity dries up. That same leverage that fuels rallies can also amplify declines when stop-losses trigger.
XRP ranks among the top cryptocurrencies by market value and powers Ripple’s network for payments and transfers. This makes it vulnerable to changes in crypto sentiment as well as broader shifts in risk appetite.
The upcoming focus is the U.S. data calendar. At 8:30 a.m. ET on Jan. 22, the Bureau of Economic Analysis will release its updated third-quarter GDP estimate. Then, at 10:00 a.m. ET, the personal income and outlays report is set to follow. Both reports have the potential to shift rate expectations and, consequently, impact risk assets like crypto.
