XRP has dropped nearly 40% since the start of 2026, falling roughly 70% below its all-time high of $3.65. Bitcoin fell below $60,000 for the first time since October 2024. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $4.4 billion in outflows across 13 consecutive days.
Middle East tensions, persistent inflation concerns, and Goldman Sachs abandoning its 2026 rate cut forecast combined to create a sustained risk-off environment across all asset classes.
What Whales Are Doing
The number of wallets holding 10,000 or more XRP has hit an all-time high of 332,230, growing consistently since June 2024 and continuing through the entire drawdown. The millionaire tier, wallets holding over one million XRP, added 42 new addresses since January and accumulated 1.2 billion tokens in the first quarter alone, the heaviest quarterly accumulation since 2023.
Mega whale wallets holding 10 million or more XRP now control approximately 45.83 billion tokens, representing 68.5% of circulating supply and the highest whale concentration since May 2018.
Additionally 91.4% of recent exchange outflows are coming from large holders moving coins into private custody, and over 25 million XRP was pulled off exchanges the moment price touched $19.
What Ripple Has Been Building
In December 2025 the OCC granted Ripple conditional approval for a national trust bank charter, with the final rule activating permissible activities taking effect on April 1, 2026. Ripple is also pursuing a Federal Reserve master account, a process currently paused until end of 2026.
RLUSD has grown to approximately $1.7 billion in market cap, ranking as the eighth largest stablecoin globally and live across more than 40 networks. On June 3 Mastercard added RLUSD to its 24/7 on-chain settlement network alongside USDC and PYUSD.
CLARITY Act and It’s Impact
The SEC case against Ripple concluded in August 2025 with a joint dismissal of appeals, confirming XRP is not a security when sold on public exchanges. Ripple paid a reduced $50 million penalty with $75 million returned as part of the settlement.
Both the SEC and CFTC currently view XRP as a digital commodity but that classification has not been written into law. An executive agency classification can be reversed by the next administration with a memo. A statute cannot.
The CLARITY Act would permanently codify XRP’s commodity status. It passed the House 294 to 134 and cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15 to 9. Standard Chartered has set a conditional $8 XRP price target tied to ETF inflows reaching $10 billion if the bill passes.
Bull Case vs Bear Case
XRP tells two completely different stories depending on which data you look at.
The Bull Case
- Record whale accumulation with 332,230 wallets holding 10,000 or more XRP
- Ripple holds a federally chartered trust bank licence
- RLUSD is the eighth largest stablecoin globally
- XRP ETFs recorded a record $132 million inflow month in May with UBS and Bank of America taking first-time stakes
- CLARITY Act passage would permanently codify XRP as a digital commodity with Standard Chartered targeting $8
The Bear Case
- XRP down 40% in 2026 and trading 70% below its all-time high
- Broken below the 200-day moving average with RSI approaching oversold
- New Ripple partnerships increasingly settling in RLUSD rather than XRP
- CLARITY Act still unscheduled with no confirmed Senate floor vote date
- $1 psychological support level at risk if macro conditions worsen
Bear Price Targets
- $1.00: Psychological floor and first major support
- $0.90: Next support if $1 breaks
- $0.70: Deeper target if selling accelerates
