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XRP saw stretches of very strong bullish momentum in 2025, but trading turned bearish later in the year and weakness has extended into 2026. The token price has fallen 26% year to date as of this writing, and is down roughly 41% over the past 12 months. Despite inflation moderating and cryptocurrencies seeing rising adoption in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), XRP and most other leading tokens have experienced significant valuation pullbacks over the last half-year.
While XRP, Bitcoin, and Ethereum have faced valuation pullbacks, bullish momentum for gold and silver has been strong. The divergence in performance between precious metals and cryptocurrencies has raised questions about whether crypto assets are a viable long-term hedge against inflation and whether they function effectively as a store of value.
Even with a more favorable regulatory backdrop for crypto following President Trump’s second term, XRP and other top tokens have still seen valuations cut down. As investors shift toward assets where performance has been stronger, outperformance in precious metals has increased bearish headwinds for crypto.
During the current crypto downturn, the combined market capitalization of tokens has declined, but stablecoin proliferation and adoption trends have looked comparatively strong. Stablecoins—typically designed to maintain a price near $1—have shifted how market participants think about using cryptocurrencies as currencies.
Rather than using volatile tokens such as XRP as mediums of exchange, stablecoins offer more consistent pricing for both buyers and sellers. The growing preference for stablecoins for actual transactions appears to be depressing demand for other cryptocurrencies.
Crypto markets faced additional pressure after President Trump named Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve. Investors had been hoping Warsh would be a clear proponent of interest-rate cuts, but he has been a critic of quantitative easing and could be more hawkish on rate cuts than crypto holders expected.
Further bearish pressure came from transcripts of the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting, which showed board members were hesitant to cut rates and open to the possibility of hikes if new developments warrant it.
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