Why Is XRP Dropping?

XRP, one of the most traded cryptocurrencies, saw a strong fall in recent weeks while the overall market rebounded. XRP is at $2.24 as of June 9, 2025, with a -0.83% fall in the last 24 hours and -0.60% loss in the last seven days, according to Coingecko. Though it has rebounded over 40% from its April 2025 bottom, it remains well below its $3.40 January high, down 33.9%.

So why is XRP Dropping today? Is it just a correction, or are there more fundamental structural factors behind it? Let's look at the reasons for XRP's recent price decline, technical and fundamental, and if it points to something darker.

XRP's Recent Market Performance

For the majority of Q2 2025, XRP has been unable to achieve any upward gains. The asset climbed from a local bottom at $1.60 in April to a high of approximately $2.36 during early June, only to fall back beneath important resistance at $2.70, which has held for nearly three months.

On June 4, XRP experienced an abrupt intraday reversal - increasing to $2.36 before falling to $2.29 in one hour. That triggered $474,000 of long position liquidations, meaning most traders were long for even more upside and got caught off guard.

XRP current support is $2.0350, another support at $1.76 that withstood previous market falls. Unless there is intense buying pressure, it could be a question why is XRP so low.

Technical indicators confirm the bearish trend:

• The RSI (Relative Strength Index) has fallen to 46, which shows fading bullish momentum.

• The MACD histogram remains in negative, confirming a downtrend.

Ripple Drop in Historical Perspective

XRP has had a history of wild price swings. Having hit its all-time high of more than $3.00 in 2018, it then went into a multi-year bear cycle. The SEC suit in 2020 caused another precipitous decline, leading to delistings on major US exchanges and diluting its brand.

A partial legal win in 2023 fueled XRP bulls and drove the token to over $2.50. That rally, however, has faded. Despite XRP's healthy long-term prospects in global payments, the token price still responds to macro events, technical momentum, and regulatory stress.

Why XRP Is Falling Today

Several particular reasons have collectively pushed XRP drop:

1. Global Market Uncertainty

On May 29, 2025, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that trade talks between the U.S. and China collapsed. The resulting market uncertainty overspilled to all risky assets, including cryptocurrencies.

This announcement triggered a wave of selling across the crypto market. On the day:

Bitcoin liquidations totaled $11.75 million.

• Ethereum saw $3.55 million in liquidations.

• XRP began falling soon after, copying Bitcoin.

XRP, as is typical of most altcoins, is prone to following Bitcoin directional prices. When BTC declines, most other assets also follow - and XRP drop is no exception.

2. Leverage and Liquidations

The increasing amount of leverage employed in crypto trading is part of the reason for the volatility. On June 4, over $474,000 of long XRP positions were auto-liquidated as prices reversed. This round of liquidation continued to push the selloff.

Those episodes spook retail investors and reduce liquidity, exerting short-term bear pressure.

3. Institutional Investment Decline

CoinShares says that XRP investment products experienced $28.2 million in outflows during the final week of May and $56.6 million for the entire month. Ethereum, Solana, and SUI, meanwhile, all experienced institutional inflows.

This shift means large investors are jumping ship on XRP and going elsewhere. Institutional capital is the foundation of price stability, and as a result, a decrease in interest takes XRP's market strength directly in the pocket.

4. Legal Uncertainty and Ongoing SEC Case

The protracted litigation between Ripple Labs and the U.S. SEC continues in the background. The case claims that XRP is an unregistered security, and even though there have been some successes, the issue still awaits a final judgment.

Recently, a third party filed an amicus brief challenging the way that the case has been construed - re-opening segments of the discussion. As long as the legal ambiguity remains, institutional investors will likely continue to be cautious.

Who Is Selling XRP? - On-Chain Behavior

Understanding who is selling XRP throughout this dip provides indications of where the support and resistance levels are. On-chain data depicts a blatant change in behavior by both retail holders and institutional investors.

Retail Selling Pressure

Glassnode statistics show an increase in movement by wallets holding fewer than 10,000 XRP - typically retail investors in themselves. These addresses have been slowly unloading their positions since mid-May, likely due to stop-loss activation, sentiment selling, or loss of faith following the asset's failure to restore its $2.70 resistance.

Social sentiment indicators also reflect growing panic. Search terms like "why is XRP dropping" and "sell XRP now" have been trending higher on Google and Twitter, trumpeting emotional exits.

Whale Activity and Profit-Taking

At the same time, one of the whale wallet subgroups - those with more than 1 million XRP - have witnessed strategic profit-taking. While they have not closed their positions completely, some whales are reportedly unwinding within the $2.30--$2.40 price range, as delineated by whale cluster tracking tools like WhaleMap and Santiment.

Bizarrely, this trend also coincides with XRP's Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) hitting the "Belief--Denial" stage - a historically treacherous point at which profit owners start questioning upward momentum. Historically, this has preceded mid-term corrections in cycles as whales and experienced traders start to roll over into other assets or stablecoins.

Exchange Inflows

On-chain action shows increased XRP inflows to centralized exchanges - an old-fashioned sell activity. When long-term holders transfer funds to exchanges rather than cold storage, it's often a sign of liquidity preparation or rebalancing.

Such activity aligns with spiking volume on Binance, Kraken, and Bybit, where XRP/USDT pairs saw increased trading in the direction of downswings - an indication of real-time sell orders getting executed.

In essence, both retail panic-selling and unwilling whale profit-taking are propelling XRP's current downfall.

Challenges of XRP Price Prediction

Even guessing the next XRP move is still one-of-a-kind tricky - even in contrast to most of the leading cryptos. Such trickery stems from legal uncertainty, sentiment, and technical irregularities.

1. Legal Risk Hangs Heavy

XRP, unlike SOL or ETH, carries regulatory baggage. The SEC vs. Ripple Labs case remains ongoing, and while XRP has won some partial legal battles along the way, an outright ruling has not yet been provided. This cloud of legal doubt holds long-term institutional planning back and causes instant price volatility with every new filing and court order.

Because no court precedent currently exists defining whether XRP constitutes a security, it introduces uncertain volatility into the market. For example, even a court comment or delay in the timeline of cases can affect short-term sentiment and price models.

2. Algorithmic Models Are Inconsistent

Standard technical indicators - RSI, MACD, Bollinger Bands - are consistently worthless in high-stress political or legal environments. A chart may show oversold points, but a technically induced euphemism or social media rumor can invalidate readings in a heartbeat.

Even machine learning algorithms that have learned based on historical experience generally don't apply to XRP due to the sheer number of non-numeric external variables, such as government regulations or business policies from Ripple.

3. Market Manipulation Risks

XRP is further beset by persistent accusations of price manipulation during low-liquidity conditions. Whales can shift price several percentage points during thin trading times with little capital, distorting true price discovery.

This manipulation risk makes retail price prediction highly unreliable unless accompanied by on-chain verification and volume validation.

4. Leverage and Liquidation Loops

XRP is a staple on leveraged platforms, especially in Asia. As leverage ratios can extend to 100x, even 1% price movements can trigger cross-exchange liquidations. This creates vicious dips that charts simply do not see coming, as speculators sell en masse through automated stop-outs.

In effect, legal, behavioral, and structural considerations make XRP one of the hardest assets to model correctly.

What Might Reverse the XRP Slide?

In spite of prevailing headwinds, XRP's ecosystem is still alive, and there are some catalysts that can turn the downtrend around if achieved in the near to medium term.

1. Legal Clarity from the SEC Case

The single event most likely to have the most impact is a favorable outcome on the SEC lawsuit. If the court holds that XRP is not a security - or if Ripple wins a favorable settlement - it would eliminate a chief source of uncertainty and flood institutional money through the gates.

A favorable decision would reopen U.S.-based exchanges that had already delisted XRP, vastly expanding access and liquidity.

2. $REAL Token and XRP Ledger Expansion

Ripple's venture with the $REAL token - tokenizing the global real estate industry - creates an interesting story. If successful, this could be an XRP Ledger enterprise utility leading example. It may also attract new funds and collaborations.

Tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) is among the leading crypto trends in 2025. Should XRP dominance in this area create more long-term demand, it can reorient the market.

3. Approval of ETF

Speculative as it might seem, the 93% chance of an XRP ETF approval (according to Polymarket) has boosted bulls. If approved by the SEC, XRP would have a spot in passive investors' and institutions' portfolios that were set aside earlier due to complexity or risk.

Such access typically increases demand and reduces volatility due to consistent inflows.

4. Strategic Partnerships

Ripple is reportedly in active talks with players in insurance, cross-border trade, and payment processing. If these partnerships convert into announced integrations - especially with Fortune 500 companies - it would validate XRP's real-world application and attract new investors.

5. Market Recovery

If broader market conditions do settle out - particularly U.S.-China trade relations and macro sentiment - Bitcoin might recover its upward trend, and pull altcoins like XRP in its wake. Again, as always, BTC is the wave that lifts or drowns all boats.

So why is XRP dropping?

The reason is a mix of macroeconomic pressure, reduced institutional flows, technical susceptibility, and persistent legal risks. XRP is currently experiencing a delicate equilibrium between bearish sentiment and long-term potential.

With recent price weakness, the asset does not lack catalysts. Ongoing collaborations, the $REAL token project, and the potential ETF are all bullish catalysts. That being said, until the SEC case is decided and sentiment improves, XRP can remain on the back foot.

In the meantime, traders and investors should watch:

• Support levels around $2.03 and $1.76

• XRP legal updates

• Institutional in- and out-flows into XRP investment products

• Real-world token adoption like $REAL and company integrations

Like anything, crypto investment comes with risks, but also opportunity - and XRP remains at the intersection of both.