New York, March 3, 2026, 12:49 EST — Regular session
- XRP down 2.4% in the past 24 hours; traded in a $1.34–$1.40 range
- Ripple broadens Ripple Payments to support stablecoins, including its RLUSD token
- Traders stay focused on Middle East escalation, oil shock risk and crypto flow data
XRP fell 2.4% over the past 24 hours to about $1.36 on Tuesday, after trading between $1.34 and $1.40, CoinGecko data showed. XRP’s market value stood near $83 billion, with about $3.0 billion of the token changing hands over the past day.
The pullback came as traders cut exposure to risk assets broadly after the widening U.S.-Israel war on Iran drove oil higher and hammered global equities. “The market is concerned that the US is getting pulled deeper into this conflict,” said Tim Ghriskey, a senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder. Bitcoin fell 1.35% to $68,496.40, the same report showed. Reuters
Ripple said earlier on Tuesday it expanded Ripple Payments to handle collections and payouts in traditional currencies and stablecoins, and positioned its dollar-pegged RLUSD stablecoin and XRP as core to the platform. Stablecoins are tokens designed to keep a steady value, usually by tracking a currency such as the U.S. dollar. “Success in this space requires enterprise-grade infrastructure, extensive licensing, and deep liquidity,” Monica Long, Ripple’s president, said in a statement. Business Wire
Signs of stress also showed up in regional flows. Crypto worth $10.3 million left Iranian crypto exchanges between Saturday and Monday, Chainalysis said, after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran began over the weekend, while Elliptic flagged a sharp spike in outflows from Nobitex, Iran’s largest exchange. Chainalysis said some activity was “almost certainly ordinary Iranians moving funds in response to rising risk.” Reuters
Tehran’s threats around shipping routes have become a market fault line. “The strait (of Hormuz) is closed,” Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the Revolutionary Guards commander-in-chief, said in remarks carried by Iranian state media, adding Iran would fire on any ship trying to pass. Reuters
For XRP, the push and pull is familiar: Ripple headlines can lift sentiment, but macro shocks can swamp it. The token trades around the clock, and that can amplify fast money moves when oil, rates and the dollar swing.
XRP’s appeal to many traders is its link to payments plumbing, not just speculative cycles. But that story tends to take a back seat when investors are pricing war risk and inflation.
But crypto’s beta cuts both ways. If the conflict drags on and energy prices stay high, liquidity can thin quickly and downside moves can overshoot, especially in large, highly traded tokens.
The next catalyst is the tape itself: developments around Gulf shipping and the oil spike, plus policy responses. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright were expected to announce U.S. plans to mitigate the oil shock on Tuesday, a Reuters report said.
