XRP’s price continued to remain under severe pressure on Friday.
At the time of writing, XRP price was down over 6%, trading at $2.30 after hitting an intraday low of $2.29 and a high of $2.46.
The coin has seen a weekly decline of around 25%.
The coin was off to a strong start this year in the run-up to US President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The coin reclaimed the $3 mark, a key psychological level last reached during the 2017-2018 crypto bull run.
However, it has since been under the pump in line with broader market movements.
Talking about the decline, Peter Chung, Head of Research, Presto Research, told Invezz, that XRP is exposed to constant selling pressure because Ripple Labs, the largest XRP holder (46% of the total supply or $100bn worth), is a company that doesn’t generate much operating cash flow on its own and therefore has to routinely sell a portion of their XRP holdings to stay afloat.
He added:
Without generating matching demand for XRP, its price is bound to decline. Recently Ripple came up with new initiatives such as RLUSD, but positive relationship between its adoption and XRP is murky at best
Can XRP price bounce back and hit $3 again?
A major factor weighing the XRP price down is the uncertainty that lingers over the SEC’s appeal plans in the Ripple case, which continues to be a key driver for the token’s performance.
Market sentiment suggests that if the SEC withdraws its appeal, XRP could potentially rally beyond the $3 mark. But, if the appeal moves forward, XRP may face additional selling pressure going forward.
Some market analysts suggest that investors can look to lap up the coin as it trades below the $3 mark.
In a TradingView post, crypto analyst ProjectSyndicate predicted that XRP could see a 40% upward move in the near future.
However, he cautioned that the current market price of around $2.50 offers limited upside.
He further suggested that the pullback isn’t over yet, forecasting that XRP could drop as low as $2 before rallying to achieve the predicted 40% gains.
XRP price 2025: long-term catalysts
One of the major catalysts for the coin this year would be a possible XRP ETF approval.
On Thursday, Chicago’s Cboe Exchange filed four applications with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list and trade spot XRP ETFs from WisdomTree, Bitwise, 21Shares, and Canary.
Earlier in January, JPMorgan analysts estimated that the launch of SOL and XRP ETFs could collectively bring in up to $14 billion in investments.
Solana could attract $3-6 billion in new assets, while XRP might draw $4-8 billion, according to the report.
However, unlike prior crypto ETF approvals, XRP does not have an established CME futures market, which has been a key criterion for the SEC when approving Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
Talking about the possibility of an XRP ETF, Chung said that, “the leaked CME futures listing could presage a spot ETF approval, though initial demand might be modest at around $2 billion AUM based on global ETP patterns.”
The analyst further highlighted potential long-term catalysts for XRP, such as the possibility of XRP Ledger, as a Layer 1 platform, experiencing growth similar to Solana. He also mentioned the adoption of RLUSD and its potential to enhance XRP’s utility.
However, Chung added that the visibility of both scenarios remains limited.
The analyst also mentioned:
We are also listing out for whether XRP will be included as part of the Trump’s digital asset stockpile, which we may learn about within the next 6 months.
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