New York, February 4, 2026, 10:14 EST — Regular session
- XRP dropped roughly 2% in the past 24 hours, settling near $1.56, adding to a turbulent week for top tokens
- Ripple announced it obtained a full EU electronic money licence in Luxembourg, though the token followed wider risk-off trends
- Traders are keeping an eye on U.S. policy cues, shifts in leverage, and crucial inflation figures set for Feb. 11
XRP slipped on Wednesday, hovering near $1.56 and losing roughly 2% in the last 24 hours amid a wider crypto sell-off hitting riskier assets. According to CoinMarketCap, XRP’s trading volume clocked in at around $4.25 billion over the past day.
This shift is crucial as the market wrestles with a rapid unwind of leveraged positions, following wild swings driven by U.S. policy headlines and sparse liquidity. In crypto, even minor nudges can trigger big moves when traders scramble to slash their holdings.
XRP has been moving amid a noisy backdrop: ongoing uncertainty about U.S. interest rates and a Washington debate over crypto regulations that hasn’t produced clear outcomes yet. Traders are left relying heavily on macro data and policy cues to guide their moves.
Ripple, the company linked to XRP, announced on Feb. 2 that it secured full approval for an Electronic Money Institution licence in Luxembourg from the country’s financial regulator, the CSSF. “Securing our full EMI license in the EU is a transformative milestone,” said Cassie Craddock, Ripple’s managing director for the UK and Europe, in a company statement. https://ripple.com/ripple-press/ripple-rec…
Price action remained sluggish. According to Investing.com data, XRP fluctuated between about $1.54 and $1.61 on Wednesday.
XRP wasn’t the only digital asset taking a hit. Bitcoin dropped roughly 3.5% in the last 24 hours, landing near $74,600, with ether slipping about 4.3% to roughly $2,170, according to CoinMarketCap.
A surge in “liquidations” — forced closures of leveraged bets — has intensified the market swings. Bitcoin traders have dumped $2.56 billion in recent days, according to data from CoinGlass, following a broader selloff in risk assets, Reuters reported. https://www.reuters.com/markets/wealth/cry…
“What we’ve seen over the past few months is likely people pulling back as they reevaluate their risk frameworks,” said Adam McCarthy, senior research analyst at digital market data provider Kaiko. Jim Ferraioli, director of crypto research and strategy at Charles Schwab’s Schwab Center for Financial Research, pointed to “outside forces” as “the biggest risk,” including the weakening AI trade.
In Washington, a White House meeting aimed at resolving a deadlock between banks and crypto companies ended without a deal. The dispute centers on whether stablecoins — digital tokens usually tied to the dollar — can be used to pay customer rewards. “The White House continues to engage in productive conversations to advance President Trump’s agenda,” spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/w…
Macro data is fueling more uncertainty. U.S. private payrolls ticked up by just 22,000 in January. The Labor Department’s January jobs report, set for release Friday, has been postponed due to a partial government shutdown that wrapped up Tuesday, according to a Reuters report.
Crypto doesn’t need a token-specific headline to shift. If equities slip again or forced selling ramps up, XRP could tumble fast in thin markets, especially when liquidity thins outside peak hours.
Traders are set to track any news on the delayed U.S. payrolls report, which was initially due Feb. 6, as well as January’s consumer price data, expected Feb. 11.
