XRP Falls Below $1 for the First Time Since November 2024

The price of the Ripple-linked $XRP token slipped below the $1 threshold earlier today for the first time since November 2024, according to data from the Binance exchange. At 14:58 UTC, the cryptocurrency hit an intraday low of $0.99.

The decline that pushed the token below the psychologically significant $1 mark followed revelations that 200,000 $XRP tokens had been drained from the Coreum cross-chain bridge. Cross-chain bridge exploits have been a recurring vulnerability across the broader decentralized finance sector, with several high-profile incidents in recent years eroding trader confidence in interconnected protocol infrastructure.

Meanwhile, as reported by U.Today, elevated activity has been observed in the closely watched $XRP derivatives market. $XRP futures experienced a double-digit spike over a very short period.

This heightened activity has been linked to the upcoming Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, scheduled for release on Wednesday. The inflation print is a key macroeconomic indicator monitored by cryptocurrency traders, as it will influence whether yields remain elevated, climb further, or finally ease. Cryptocurrencies, as risk-sensitive assets, have tended to react sharply to shifts in rate expectations driven by such data releases.

A Challenging Year for $XRP

This year has been difficult for holders of the Ripple-affiliated token, which has lost approximately 46% of its value despite several notable ecosystem developments. $XRP has also underperformed Bitcoin significantly, declining as much as 31% against the flagship cryptocurrency.

The token's performance has been weighed down in part by the prolonged legal overhang from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's case against Ripple, which concluded in August 2024 with a $125 million civil penalty for institutional sales violations. While the outcome was far below the billions the SEC had sought, the multi-year litigation disrupted ecosystem momentum and limited institutional access to the token during a period when competitors were expanding.

As reported by U.Today, $XRP recently became available to UK traders alongside several other cryptocurrencies through Robinhood.

Additionally, investment products tied to the cryptocurrency have recorded small but consistent inflows over the past two months.

Several important Ripple-related developments have also occurred. The company recently secured full MiCA authorization in Europe, allowing it to operate under the EU's comprehensive crypto regulatory framework. The XRP Ledger (XRPL) has been expanding beyond payments, with Ripple introducing an XRPL Lending Protocol in June. That same month, Ripple launched an XRPL AI Starter Kit supporting x402-powered payments.

However, these developments have not produced a substantial upward movement in the price of the $XRP token. Ripple's operational successes have not automatically translated into price rallies, and the large number of tokens controlled by Ripple continues to weigh on the market. The divergence between ecosystem progress and market performance underscores a broader challenge faced by utility-focused blockchain projects, where token adoption and protocol usage do not always correlate with price appreciation.