XRP Holds Near $1.13 as Senate Bill Becomes the Key Catalyst

XRP is trading near $1.13 after defending the $1.00 level twice in recent weeks. For investors, the token’s next major move may depend less on Ripple’s business momentum than on U.S. crypto legislation.

XRP is hovering around $1.13, trapped between a closely watched $1.00 support zone and resistance near $1.18 to $1.20. That narrow trading band has defined the token’s recent action even as broader crypto markets rebounded, with Bitcoin rising to $64,743 and Ether to $1,926.

The contrast is striking. Ripple has expanded institutional partnerships and payment infrastructure in 2026, yet XRP remains down more than 50% from its July 2025 peak of $3.66 and over 25% below where it began the year.

For markets, the core issue is simple: XRP’s price is not responding meaningfully to corporate milestones or ETF demand. Instead, traders are increasingly focused on a pending Senate process that could clarify whether XRP is treated as a commodity under federal law.

Key Facts

  • XRP traded near $1.13 after briefly dipping below $1.07 and remains about 4.4% under the key $1.18 to $1.20 resistance zone.
  • The token is down more than 50% from its July 2025 cycle high of $3.66 and has defended the $1.00 level for roughly three weeks.
  • XRP’s market capitalization is near $70 billion, with 62.05 billion tokens in circulation out of a 100 billion maximum supply.
  • Spot XRP ETFs have attracted about $1.48 billion since launching in November 2025, even as the token’s price weakened sharply over the same period.
  • A Senate hearing tied to digital-asset market structure is scheduled for July 17, with investors watching for potential late-July or early-August floor action.

XRP Price Outlook

XRP’s chart structure remains compressed and fragile. Buyers have repeatedly appeared between $1.00 and $1.06, preventing a deeper breakdown, while rallies have stalled in layers between $1.08 and $1.10, then $1.13 and $1.15, and most importantly at $1.18 to $1.20. A sustained move above that upper band would be the first credible sign that the longer downtrend is beginning to reverse.

Technical readings show a market that may be trying to form a base but has not yet confirmed a trend change. A bullish divergence on the 3-day RSI suggests selling pressure is fading, while the 14-day RSI has improved from oversold territory to a more neutral reading. At the same time, broader indicator counts remain heavily negative, and major moving averages are still sloping downward.

That leaves XRP in an unusual position among large crypto assets. Bitcoin has benefited from changing interest-rate expectations, while Ether has drawn support from ETF flows and staking-linked demand. XRP, by contrast, appears to be trading largely on macro risk sentiment and legislative expectations rather than on a token-specific demand engine.

Ripple’s strongest business year has not translated into XRP price strength, leaving Washington rather than corporate execution as the market’s primary catalyst.

Why Ripple’s Growth Has Not Lifted XRP

Ripple has built out institutional payment infrastructure at a rapid pace. The company joined the x402 Foundation as a premier member on July 14, expanded work tied to agentic payments, and saw the XRP Ledger process more than one million agentic transactions. Mastercard also integrated XRP and RLUSD into an AI-driven cross-border settlement network on July 5.

Yet investors are drawing a distinction between Ripple the company and XRP the token. Many of the firm’s partnerships center on payments rails, stablecoins, or multichain standards that do not automatically create direct token demand. Even where XRP is part of the stack, transaction costs on the ledger remain extremely low, limiting the value-accrual effect that some other blockchain networks derive from higher usage.

Implications for Investors

For investors, XRP now looks like a politically sensitive large-cap crypto asset with a very specific trigger. If legislation advances and codifies commodity treatment under federal law, institutional participation could widen materially. Some market projections point to cumulative XRP ETF inflows reaching $4 billion to $8 billion by year-end in that scenario, far above the current $1.48 billion since inception.

The opposite risk is equally clear. If legislative momentum stalls, XRP may continue to trade as a high-beta proxy for the broader crypto market rather than on Ripple-specific fundamentals. A break below $1.00 would likely shift attention quickly to $0.80, a level that would represent roughly a 29% drop from current prices and mark a more serious technical failure.

Portfolio positioning therefore hinges on time horizon and risk tolerance. Shorter-term traders are likely to focus on the $1.00 floor and the $1.18 to $1.20 ceiling, while longer-term investors may be more interested in whether legal clarity can unlock deeper ETF adoption, broader institutional ownership, and eventually a more durable repricing of the asset.

The next stretch of trading could be decisive. If XRP can hold support and clear resistance as the Senate timeline develops, sentiment may improve quickly; if not, the token may remain range-bound despite continued progress across Ripple’s business network.

Ultima Markets