Why Is XRP Crashing? 5 Reasons Behind Ripple’s 2026 Price Decline

Last Updated: November 4, 2026

Quick Answer: XRP is not crashing today: it traded near $1.28 at 10:17 UTC on November 4, 2026, up 2.44% over 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. The drop people are asking about is the slide since late September, when XRP traded above $1.60: it is down 15.3% over 30 days and 3.4% over seven days, after Bitcoin’s decline, the October 29 Binance hack, stalled XRP ETF inflows and the CLARITY Act’s failed Senate vote. XRP is down about 30% in 2026 and about 43% over 12 months.

Key Takeaways:

• Price now: about $1.2831 at 10:17 UTC on November 4, up 2.44% over 24 hours, down 3.39% over seven days and 15.28% over 30 days, with a market capitalization of about $81.3 billion, according to CoinMarketCap
• Today: XRP dipped to about $1.24 overnight as Bitcoin fell to about $75,630 on US election night, then recovered with the market
• October: XRP lost 16.0% in October 2026 on CoinMarketCap daily closes, more than twice Bitcoin’s 7.3% decline
• Bitcoin link: over the past 90 days XRP’s daily moves had a correlation of 0.89 with Bitcoin’s and were about 1.6 times as large, on Blockchainreporter’s calculation from CoinMarketCap data
• Binance hack: XRP fell 6.75% on October 29, the day of the roughly $6.3 billion Binance theft, and touched $1.20 on October 30, its lowest level since August
• ETF demand: US spot XRP ETFs took in only about $18.8 million in October, against $307.9 million in the third quarter, and recorded zero net flows on November 3, according to SoSoValue data
• Policy: XRP fell 9.6% on September 15, the day the CLARITY Act failed a Senate procedural vote 49 to 50; the bill is still not law

XRP Price Today: Where It Stands Now

XRP sits about 66.6% below its CoinMarketCap all-time high of $3.84 from January 2018 and about 64.8% below its July 2025 peak near $3.65. It is still about 30% above its August 14, 2026 low of $0.9884, the only period this year when it traded below $1, which is why the 90-day change is positive (+23.1%) even though the 30-day change is deeply negative. Daily moves are tracked on our XRP News Today hub.

Why Is XRP Dropping Today?

XRP is not dropping today. As of 10:17 UTC on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, XRP was up 2.44% over 24 hours at about $1.28, slightly ahead of Bitcoin’s 1.94% gain, according to CoinMarketCap. Most of the rise came in one hour on November 3, when XRP climbed from about $1.256 to $1.281 between 12:00 and 13:00 UTC, and XRP closed November 3 at $1.2773, its highest close since October 28.

The only drop in the past 24 hours was overnight. During the US midterm election night, Bitcoin fell to about $75,630, its lowest level since September 16, and XRP slipped from about $1.28 to a low near $1.24 in the hours after midnight UTC on November 4. Both recovered by mid-morning. Sentiment is still weak: the Crypto Fear and Greed Index from alternative.me reads 34, Fear, on November 4, up from 26 on November 3.

If you saw XRP falling on a chart, it was most likely the 7-day (-3.4%) or 30-day (-15.3%) view. The reasons for that longer slide are below. For the opposite question, see our explainer on why XRP is going up.

Why Is XRP Crashing? 5 Key Reasons

XRP’s decline since late September has five overlapping causes. None of them is new on November 4 itself; together they explain why XRP fell from above $1.60 on September 23 to about $1.20 on October 30.

1. Bitcoin’s Slide Is Dragging XRP Down

XRP still moves with Bitcoin, only harder. On Blockchainreporter’s calculation from CoinMarketCap daily closes for August 5 to November 3, 2026, the correlation between XRP’s and Bitcoin’s daily returns was 0.89, and XRP’s daily moves were on average about 1.6 times Bitcoin’s (XRP’s daily volatility was about 1.8 times Bitcoin’s). A 5% Bitcoin drop has therefore tended to come with an XRP drop of about 8%.

Bitcoin lost about 7.3% in October, from about $83,550 to about $77,430, and XRP lost 16.0% over the same month. Bitcoin is down 8.9% over 30 days and trades near $78,400, far below its all-time high of about $126,000 from October 2025. Other large altcoins fell too: Ether lost about 16% in October and Solana is down about 23% over 30 days on CoinMarketCap data. Our bitcoin crash explainer covers the Bitcoin side.

The macro backdrop has not helped. The Federal Reserve held its target range at 3.75% to 4.00% on October 28, and two voting members preferred a rate increase. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a third straight day of outflows on November 3, about $115.6 million, and Ether ETFs lost about $85.3 million. For Bitcoin’s longer-term outlook, see our Bitcoin price prediction.

2. The Binance Hack Hit an Already Weak Market

The largest theft from a crypto exchange on record arrived while XRP was already falling. Binance was hacked on October 29, with losses estimated at about $6.3 billion, and XRP fell 6.75% that day, against 4.3% for Bitcoin, then touched about $1.20 on October 30, its lowest level since August, on CoinMarketCap data. About 233.46 million XRP were among the stolen assets, according to TRM Labs data cited by CoinDesk, worth roughly $300 million at today’s price.

The FBI attributed the theft to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group, on October 31. Binance reopened XRP withdrawals on the XRP Ledger on November 1 and started a second withdrawal phase on nine networks from 04:00 UTC on November 3. It planned a new proof-of-reserves snapshot for November 4; as of about 09:50 UTC no further recovery update had been published. Binance says the losses will not be passed on to users; that is the exchange’s own statement. Our report on Binance reopening withdrawals has the full timeline.

3. XRP ETF Inflows Have Stalled

ETF demand, which supported XRP through the summer, has faded. US spot XRP ETFs took in about $307.9 million in the third quarter, including about $159.2 million in August and $121.4 million in September, but only about $18.8 million in October, according to SoSoValue data. The five funds saw a net outflow of about $529,500 on November 2 and zero net flows on November 3.

Total net assets stood at about $1.46 billion on November 3, down from $1.69 billion on October 1, while cumulative net inflows held near $1.81 billion. That means the fall in assets came from the lower price, not from investors pulling money out. Spot XRP ETFs hold about 1.8% of XRP’s market value, a smaller base of steady buying than Bitcoin’s ETFs provide. Our XRP ETF guide lists every fund.

4. Technical Breakdown: XRP Lost $1.50 and Its Key Averages

These are observed levels, not forecasts. XRP last closed above $1.50 on October 5. It lost $1.40 on October 7 and 8, dipped below $1.30 several times in late October, and has closed below $1.30 every day since October 29. On CoinMarketCap daily closes, the 20-day average is about $1.30 and the 50-day average about $1.39, both above the current price, which is how traders read a downtrend. On November 3 XRP closed slightly above its 200-day average near $1.275 on Binance XRP/USDT daily closes, for the first time since the hack.

The September 15 drop is the clearest single break on the chart: XRP fell from a high near $1.44 to close at $1.28, down 9.6% in a day, after the CLARITY Act failed its Senate procedural vote. It rebounded to $1.65 by September 23 but has made lower highs since.

5. Supply Pressure: Escrow Releases and Large Holders

Ripple unlocks 1 billion XRP from escrow on the first day of each month under a schedule set in 2017. On November 1 it returned 700 million XRP to escrow, as in September and October, leaving about 300 million XRP of potential new supply and about 31.1 billion XRP still locked, according to XRPL data cited by Coinpaper. An unlock does not mean Ripple is selling, but traders watch it when buying demand is weak. See our explainer on the 1 billion XRP escrow unlock.

Large holders have also trimmed. crypto.news reported on November 3, citing Santiment data, that the number of wallets holding 10 million to 100 million XRP fell from 351 to 339, and analyst Ali Martinez said about 47 million XRP had moved onto exchanges, where coins are usually held to sell.

How Far Has XRP Fallen Since 2025?

The current slide is the latest leg of a decline that began after XRP’s July 2025 peak. The figures below use CoinMarketCap data.

What changed since 2025: in 2025 the main question was the SEC lawsuit, which ended on August 7, 2025. In 2026 XRP has traded on Bitcoin, ETF flows and Washington’s market structure bill instead. Our earlier explainer on why XRP is dropping covers the February 2026 crash in detail.

The Paradox: Why Is XRP Crashing When Ripple Keeps Winning?

Ripple, the company, has had a strong year, but XRP holders do not share in its revenue, and the token’s price follows the wider crypto market more than company news. Recent wins include:

• Bank charter: Ripple received final approval from the OCC for a national trust bank on October 26, 2026, and BNY added support for XRP and RLUSD on its custody platform on October 27
• Revenue: on October 28 Ripple said it is on track to exit 2026 with about $900 million in annualized product revenue, according to Ripple; that is the company’s own, unaudited figure
• RLUSD: Ripple’s stablecoin had a market cap of about $2.57 billion on CoinMarketCap on November 3 and launched on Coinbase last week
• Expansion: Ripple launched full financial services across Brazil in March 2026 and applied for a license from Brazil’s central bank; in 2025 it bought prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion and treasury firm GTreasury for $1 billion, according to The Block
• Regulation: on March 17, 2026 the SEC, joined by the CFTC, named XRP among examples of digital commodities

The price reaction shows the gap. After the March 17 interpretation XRP briefly reached about $1.60, then fell 7.4% to $1.41 by March 21. Other large networks show the same pattern: the tokens behind Ethereum’s ecosystem and Solana’s also fell with the market this autumn, whatever their own news. Ripple’s longer-term case rests on payments and tokenization, which play out over years, not weeks.

What Needs to Happen for XRP to Stop Crashing

Three things have moved XRP most in 2026, and each can turn.

1. Bitcoin stabilizing. Because XRP’s daily moves have been about 1.6 times Bitcoin’s over the past 90 days, a Bitcoin recovery would likely lift XRP more than Bitcoin, just as Bitcoin’s falls have hit XRP harder. From August 14 to August 23, XRP’s daily close rose about 52% while Bitcoin’s rose about 24%, on CoinMarketCap data.
2. ETF inflows returning. A return to the August and September pace of $120 million to $160 million a month would add steady demand; October’s $18.8 million did not.
3. Progress on the CLARITY Act. The market structure bill passed the House 294 to 134 in July 2025 but failed a Senate procedural vote 49 to 50 on September 15, 2026, 11 votes short of 60, according to Bitcoin.com News. It remains on the Senate calendar, and Representative French Hill said on October 8 that he hoped to pass it in the lame-duck session after the midterms. No new vote had been scheduled as of November 4, and early crypto coverage of the November 3 elections, including a BlockBeats report carried by KuCoin News, described the results as adding policy uncertainty. If the bill is not finished before the current Congress ends in January 2027, it must start again. Our CLARITY Act explainer covers what it would do.

The legal backdrop for XRP itself is settled. On August 7, 2025, the SEC and Ripple filed a joint stipulation dismissing both appeals, ending the case the SEC brought in December 2020; a $125,035,150 penalty and an injunction remain in place, according to the SEC.

Published forecasts for the end of 2026 vary widely. CoinLore’s base case is about $0.89 (updated November 2), CoinCodex expects a December average of about $1.31 (updated November 1), and Standard Chartered cut its end-2026 target from $8 to $2.80 in a February 12, 2026 note. We publish no price targets of our own; our XRP price prediction compares the models.

On-Chain Signals: Accumulation or Distribution?

The on-chain picture is mixed. On the buying side, Santiment counted 7,934 new XRP wallets on November 1, the sixth-highest daily figure of 2026, according to crypto.news. On the selling side, the same report showed fewer wallets holding 10 million to 100 million XRP and rising exchange balances, and the Coinbase premium, which compares the price on Coinbase with other exchanges, was slightly negative at about -0.16%, a sign of weak US demand.

On the XRP Ledger itself, the fixCleanup3_4_0 amendment held the support of 33 of 35 validators on XRPScan data on the morning of November 4 and was due to activate at about 14:46 UTC that day. It bundles fixes for automated market makers, lending, vaults and permissioned trading. Amendment status is listed on the XRP Ledger’s known amendments page. Network upgrades like this rarely move the price on their own.

Key Price Levels to Watch

These are observed levels from recent trading on CoinMarketCap and Binance data, not forecasts.

XRP has traded between about $1.20 and $1.29 since October 30. A daily close above $1.30 would put it back above its 20-day average for the first time since the hack, while a move below $1.20 would set a new low for the autumn. For a wider view of the token’s prospects, see is XRP dead? and our Fear and Greed Index explainer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is XRP crashing?
XRP has fallen about 15% over 30 days because Bitcoin slid, the October 29 Binance hack hit an already weak market, US spot XRP ETF inflows stalled, and the CLARITY Act failed a Senate vote on September 15. Monthly escrow releases add supply. XRP traded near $1.28 on November 4, 2026, down about 30% this year and about 43% over 12 months.

Why is XRP dropping today?
It is not dropping today. At 10:17 UTC on November 4, 2026, XRP was up 2.44% over 24 hours at about $1.28, according to CoinMarketCap. It dipped to about $1.24 overnight as Bitcoin fell to about $75,630 on US election night, then recovered. The decline people notice is the 3.4% fall over seven days and 15.3% over 30 days.

Why is XRP down right now?
XRP is down from its September 23 high near $1.65 because the market turned lower in October, when XRP lost 16% and Bitcoin 7.3%. The Binance hack pushed XRP to about $1.20 on October 30, ETF demand faded, and sentiment stayed in Fear. XRP has traded between about $1.20 and $1.29 since then, below its 20-day and 50-day averages.

Why is XRP falling more than Bitcoin?
XRP tends to amplify Bitcoin’s moves. Over the past 90 days its daily returns had a 0.89 correlation with Bitcoin’s and were about 1.6 times as large, based on CoinMarketCap data. Spot ETFs hold only about 1.8% of XRP’s value, so steady fund buying is smaller, and XRP also faces about 300 million tokens of net escrow supply each month.

Why is XRP dropping when Ripple keeps winning?
Ripple’s wins, such as its national trust bank approval, BNY custody support and a growing RLUSD stablecoin, help the company, but XRP holders get no share of Ripple’s revenue. The token trades with Bitcoin, leverage and ETF flows in the short term. After the SEC named XRP a digital commodity example in March 2026, XRP briefly rose, then fell again.

Did the Binance hack cause XRP to fall?
It made an existing decline worse. XRP fell 6.75% on October 29, the day of the roughly $6.3 billion theft, against 4.3% for Bitcoin, and touched about $1.20 the next day. About 233 million XRP were among the stolen assets, according to TRM Labs data cited by CoinDesk. Binance reopened XRP withdrawals on November 1 and says users will not bear the losses.

Is XRP crashing because of the SEC?
No. The SEC case against Ripple ended on August 7, 2025, when both sides dismissed their appeals; a $125 million penalty and an injunction remain. In March 2026 the SEC, joined by the CFTC, named XRP among examples of digital commodities. The unresolved issue is Congress: the CLARITY Act failed a Senate procedural vote 49 to 50 on September 15, 2026.

Will XRP stop crashing and recover?
Nobody knows. The main things to watch are Bitcoin, a return of ETF inflows and any new Senate vote on the CLARITY Act. Published forecasts for late 2026 range from CoinLore’s base case of about $0.89 to CoinCodex’s December average of about $1.31 and Standard Chartered’s $2.80 target. These are forecasts, not guarantees, and we publish no targets.

How low can XRP go?
No one can say for certain. The observed lows to watch are about $1.20 on October 30, about $1.13 on February 6 and about $0.99 on August 14, 2026, the only time XRP traded below $1 this year. Among published models, CoinLore’s bear case for the end of 2026 is about $0.53, as of November 2, 2026, while its base case is about $0.89.

How much has XRP fallen from its all-time high?
XRP is about 66.6% below its CoinMarketCap all-time high of $3.84 from January 4, 2018, and about 64.8% below its 2025 peak near $3.65 on July 18, 2025. At about $1.28 on November 4, 2026, it is also about 30% below its 2025 closing price of $1.84, but about 30% above its August 2026 low.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency markets are volatile; always do your own research before investing.

Data sources: CoinMarketCap (XRP, Bitcoin, Ether and Solana prices, changes, market caps and daily and hourly data; correlation and ratio calculated by Blockchainreporter from daily closes, August 5 to November 3, 2026), Binance XRP/USDT (200-day average), SoSoValue (US spot XRP ETF flows and net assets), Binance statements, TRM Labs via CoinDesk, the FBI, Coinpaper (escrow), crypto.news and Santiment (on-chain data), XRPScan, the Federal Reserve, alternative.me (Fear and Greed Index), the SEC, Ripple, The Block, Bitcoin.com News and KuCoin News (CLARITY Act), CoinCodex, CoinLore and Standard Chartered (forecasts).