XRP’s Political Hopes Fade While Ripple’s Stablecoin Alliance Hits Circle, Not the Token

XRP clings to $1 amid Ripple's Open USD stablecoin consortium entry (infrastructure, not token demand) and Senate delay of CLARITY Act. Token down 70% from peak.

XRP is clinging to a critical $1 support level as two major storylines pull in opposite directions. Ripple has deepened its ties with the traditional finance establishment through a sprawling stablecoin consortium, yet the token itself continues to drift near fresh lows. Meanwhile, the long-awaited CLARITY Act, which would classify XRP as a commodity, has slipped further down the Senate calendar, removing a key catalyst that traders had hoped would arrive by the Fourth of July.

The token changed hands at $1.09 late Friday, up 3.25% on the day and 4.24% on the week. Those gains, however, hardly mask a deeper malaise. On a monthly basis XRP has shed roughly 10%, year-to-date losses top 42%, and compared with a year ago the value has more than halved. From its 52-week high of $3.65 struck in July 2025, the coin is down more than 70%.

Ripple’s Open USD Play — Infrastructure, Not Token Demand

Ripple’s recent announcement that it has joined the Open USD stablecoin consortium initially generated headlines, but the market reaction was telling. While Ripple’s own stablecoin RLUSD remains active, the firm will act as an infrastructure partner for Open USD, providing access to the XRP Ledger as one of several possible technical rails. That means Ripple earns fees from transaction volume regardless of which stablecoin wins adoption — but the direct benefit for XRP holders is far less clear.

The consortium, led by the independent firm Open Standard, boasts more than 140 partners including Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, BlackRock, American Express, BNY, Standard Chartered, Google, Shopify, Coinbase, Gemini, and Solana. Open USD differs from established stablecoins by offering free minting and distributing reserve yields back to partner companies — a direct challenge to the business models of Tether and Circle.

The clearest loser from the announcement was not XRP but Circle. Its stock opened near $72 on Tuesday, hit a four-month low, and closed down 17.55%. For XRP, analysts caution that Ripple’s corporate expansion does not automatically translate into token price appreciation. Ledger fees remain negligible, the consortium is unproven, and past partnerships have failed to move the needle.

Senate Recess Pushes CLARITY Act to Late Summer

Political momentum for the CLARITY Act stalled when the US Senate entered its summer recess on June 29. The chamber will not return until July 13, and leadership plans to prioritize a defense bill in the first week back. That pushes a potential vote on the legislation to late July at the earliest, or possibly the first week of August.

The bill needs 60 votes to pass the Senate, meaning roughly seven Democrats would have to cross the aisle. Negotiations broke down last week over an ethics clause targeting President Trump’s personal cryptocurrency holdings — the same stumbling block that has delayed progress for months.

How markets could react to legislative progress was demonstrated in May. On May 14, XRP jumped roughly 4.5% to $1.49 on the back of a single committee vote advancing the bill. A full passage could trigger an even more dramatic move — but for now, traders are left waiting.

ETF Flows and Network Activity Tell a Different Story

While the spot price languishes, institutional demand via XRP-focused exchange-traded products has been building steadily. Spot XRP ETFs recorded net inflows of roughly $22.99 million in the week ending June 26, marking eight consecutive weeks of positive flows. Bitwise led the charge, taking in $11.18 million on the final day of that week alone. Cumulative net inflows now stand at approximately $1.47 billion.

The contrast with the broader crypto ETF market is stark. Bitcoin ETFs suffered outflows of $444.5 million in a single day when BTC dipped below $60,000. The seven active XRP funds, by contrast, reported not a single day of redemptions last week and now manage nearly $1 billion in total assets.

On-chain activity is also showing signs of life. On one day in late June, nearly 5,000 new wallets were created on the XRP Ledger — the strongest single-day growth in three months. Sentiment in online discussions has turned positive, with favorable comments outnumbering negative ones by a ratio of roughly 3.7 to 1, the highest reading in three months.

Chart Levels Hold the Key

With political catalysts delayed and corporate news failing to spark a rally, price action has become purely technical. XRP’s 52-week low of $1.01, set on June 26, sits just 7% below the current level. A dense zone of buying interest has formed between $1.00 and $1.06, preventing further declines for now. A daily close below $1 could open the door to $0.80. To the upside, resistance is clustered in the $1.18–$1.20 range.

The relative strength index stands at 42.9, indicating neutral territory — not oversold, not overbought. The token remains roughly 27% below its 200-day moving average of $1.49, underscoring the strength of the bearish trend. It is also 10% beneath the 50-day line.

Standard Chartered, which had previously set a year-end 2026 target of $8, slashed that forecast to $2.80 after the February sell-off. The bank left its 2030 projection unchanged at $28.

With the Senate in recess until mid-July and the ethics clause still unresolved, XRP’s near-term direction will depend on Bitcoin’s trajectory, Federal Reserve policy signals, and whether the $1 support can withstand another round of selling. The network is growing, ETF money is flowing, but for now, the token itself remains stuck in the neutral zone.