Is This Why Ripple’s XRP Dropped to $2 Today?

Another month has started on a similar note as the previous, with the cryptocurrency market bleeding heavily, and nearly $200 billion leaving the space in less than 12 hours.

There seems to be no actual catalysts behind the latest crash, aside from over-leveraged market participants. Nevertheless, some altcoins have been hit worse than others, such as Ripple’s XRP.

While ETH is down by less than 6% daily and BNB has slipped by 5%, XRP has dropped by 7% and dipped to $2 earlier today on most exchanges. As a result, the cross-border token has dipped to a major buy wall serving as a support that managed to hold its free falls in the past.

Interestingly, today’s price decline follows similar movements when spot XRP ETFs were supposed to launch. Recall that the underlying asset plunged after the first such product, released by Canary Capital, hit the US markets in mid-November despite its record-breaking debut day.

Bitwise’s XRP was also impressive on day one, but the token plunged once again, albeit in line with the rest of the cryptocurrency market.

Consequently, many speculate whether today’s expected launch of 21Shares’ spot XRP ETF, which will track the CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate, is another classic sell-the-news event.

Spot XRP ETF Performance

The four XRP ETFs already live for trading have attracted over $660 million in total net inflows since the first one launched a few weeks ago. XRPC remains the biggest of the bunch, with more than $340 million in cumulative netflows, followed by Bitwise’s XRP, Franklin’s XRPZ, and Grayscale’s GXRP.

XRP's Year-to-Date Performance vs. Company Success

The drop to $2.04 as of press time means XRP trades further in the red on the YTD scale, having entered 2025 at $2.32. This sort of performance is in stark contrast to the year the company behind the token had, which is arguably its best ever.