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Market Cap Drops as $XRP Hits YTD Lows
On Tuesday, $XRP led an altcoin tumble, nosediving over 3% amid reports of another institutional investor acquiring Bitwise’s $XRP exchange-traded fund. Daily market data show that $XRP slipped from $1.04 to $1 by 3:13 a.m. EST, surpassing its previous year-to-date low seen in late June. On Bitstamp, the digital asset appeared on course to break below the $1 threshold for the first time since November 2024.
Following the slide, $XRP’s market capitalization dropped from over $65 billion to $62.8 billion, widening its gap behind the USDC stablecoin, whose market cap stands at $72 billion. Since its Jan. 6 peak of $2.40, $XRP has declined nearly 60%, making it one of the worst-performing high-cap altcoins this year.
While the digital asset’s downtrend aligned with that of the broader crypto economy, $XRP has seemingly failed to reverse its losses when the market rallies, unlike its peers. This pattern caused it to drop from the No. 3 digital asset—a position attained after reaching an all-time high of $3.66 in July 2025—to the sixth most capitalized.
$XRP’s decline has continued even as Ripple, the company behind the $XRP Ledger, advances its quest to drive widespread adoption of the digital asset. In its latest announcement, Ripple, which secured a crypto asset service provider authorization from Luxembourg, said the regulatory groundwork for its European expansion is in place, and its focus has shifted to scaling.
In addition to Ripple’s activities, $XRP continues to gain institutional adoption. Chicago-based hedge fund Wolverine Asset Management is the latest to jump in, with its recent 13F-HR filing revealing a new position in the Bitwise $XRP ETF.
Despite these developments, some analysts warn that $XRP could extend its downward trend. Social media user Vincent Van Code cautioned that thin trading volumes make the asset vulnerable to market manipulation, warning of a cascade toward the $0.95 level.
“$XRP is about to break the psychological $1 support,” Vincent Van Code wrote, noting that 24-hour trading volume on Binance had dropped to $68 million from over $1 billion. “Lots of people opening long positions because they think the bottom is in, and this is ripe for Binance and VIPs to liquidate these positions quite easily with only [a] very small slush fund. Current order books [are] super thin, with only $4M sells triggering [a] drop to 0.95 level, and likely closing out millions in longs.”
The analyst’s sentiment seemingly reflects a broader split across social media where discussions remain polarized. While cautionary posts point to stacked sell walls and thin order books, a resilient segment of retail traders views the sub-$1 region as an accumulation zone, holding out for a technical rebound if key support holds.