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The cryptocurrency industry is off to a brutal start to 2026, with the total value of all coins in circulation falling to $2.3 trillion, down 47% from last year’s peak. XRP, the world’s fifth-largest cryptocurrency, is declining even faster, down 65% from its record high.
XRP trades at $1.26 per token. The token’s outlook is being weighed down by questions about whether its real-world use case can translate into sustained demand, alongside broader market pressure.
XRP was created by Ripple, which built a payments system intended to let banks send money across borders instantly, with negligible fees. Ripple launched XRP to standardize transactions and reduce costly foreign exchange fees.
For example, the article says an Italian bank can send XRP to a Korean bank instead of sending euros, with a total cost of just 0.00001 tokens.
However, the piece argues that several structural issues could limit how much XRP benefits from increased adoption of Ripple Payments:
The article notes that XRP reached a record high of $3.65 per token last July and has already fallen 65% to trade at $1.26.
It also points to XRP’s prior cycle: after setting a record high in 2018, XRP reportedly lost 96% of its peak value. If a similar drawdown were to occur again, the article estimates XRP could fall to as low as $0.15 per token.
With the token’s “organic” demand sources—such as Ripple Payments—described as uncertain, the article argues that speculative investors have a larger influence on XRP’s value. It cites other highly speculative cryptocurrencies, including Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, noting they have not set new record highs since 2021.
Based on the article’s assessment, XRP is expected to trend lower and could reach $1 per token during 2026, with a risk of further downside.
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