XRP price rises 9% to above $1.60 in 24 hours. What would confirm the recovery?
XRP climbed above $1.60, recovering most of what it lost after the CLARITY Act's Senate defeat. Here's what's driving the bounce and what needs to happen next.
Nic Tse
Key Takeaways
- XRP climbed 9% over the past week to $1.58, up more than 20% from the $1.30 low after the CLARITY Act failure.
- Ripple added XRP to a new Stripe payments standard that lets AI software pay for things on its own.
- XRP ETFs pulled in a record $150 million in August, but inflows have stalled since the CLARITY Act failed.
- XRP needs to clear $1.56 and hold above it for the recovery to sustain.
XRP is trading above $1.60, up about 9% over the last 24 hours and more than 20% above the $1.30 low it touched after the CLARITY Act failed in the Senate earlier this month.
The bounce puts XRP among the market's stronger performers this week, but the token has rallied and faded before.
From $1.30 to back above $1.60
XRP dropped hard when the CLARITY Act's cloture vote failed 49-50, since the bill was expected to settle XRP's legal status for good. Losing that vote knocked the token down to around $1.30.
Besides renewed buying from large holders, other contributing factors include a pickup in short covering and a broader crypto market that's been climbing alongside Bitcoin's own recovery to an eight-month high.
What's behind this week's XRP bounce
On September 17, Ripple added XRP support to a new payments standard built with Stripe. AI softwares can pay for things like computing power or data on its own, without a human user approving each transaction.
It's a genuinely new use case for the token and a sign Ripple keeps finding fresh reasons for XRP to be used rather than just held.
It's also early: the tool is still in testing, with no real business having routed a paying customer through it yet.
Two other threads are feeding into the rally. Evernorth Holdings, a company built to hold XRP on its balance sheet the way similar firms hold BTC, lined up $30 million in fresh financing as it works toward a Nasdaq listing.
Large wallets have added an estimated $2.2 billion worth of XRP recently, though some of that same on-chain activity shows tokens moving toward exchanges around the same time, which usually points to selling rather than holding.
The latest on XRP ETF flows and what it’s doing for the rally
August was XRP's best month yet for institutional demand. US spot XRP ETFs pulled in more than $150 million that month, their strongest performance of 2026, with $110 million of it arriving in the final week alone — the largest weekly haul since December.
That momentum has since gone quiet. In the five trading sessions following September 11, cumulative inflows grew by less than $10 million total, according to SoSoValue data.
This represents a sharp slowdown that lines up almost exactly with the CLARITY Act's Senate defeat and the Fed's rate hike the following day.
September's monthly total sits around $32 million so far, a fraction of August's pace. Franklin Templeton's fund did drive a small inflow on September 16 even as BTC and ETH funds together lost over $1 billion that same day, which suggests some institutional buyers stayed put through the worst of it.
But the broader trend is one of hesitation: cumulative XRP ETF inflows have been stuck near $1.71 billion for over a week, even as spot price climbed 9%.
A price rally driven mostly by short covering and retail buying can fade quickly once those positions are closed out. A price rally backed by steady ETF inflows tends to hold up better, since that money moves in and out far less often.
What needs to happen for the recovery to stick
XRP has been stubbornly rejected four times at the $1.56 price this year. With the hurdle cleared, it should act as the new support; whether it holds on the next pullback is the first real test.
From there, $1.70 may be the next chart level worth watching, followed by $1.90.
A return of institutional demand to anywhere near August's pace may be a strong sign that this recovery is more than just a single good week of price action.
XRP price: Levels to watch
Level | Notes |
|---|---|
New support ($1.56) | This price point has rejected four separate rally attempts in 2026. It needs to be kept as a floor after XRP broke above it this week. |
Next resistance ($1.70) | The next chart level to clear, followed by $1.90. |
Downside risk ($1.30) | A close back below this may suggest the recovery has failed and the CLARITY Act selloff is reasserting itself. |
Important information: This informational content is written by Crypto.com and should not be considered as an investment recommendation or advice. Trading cryptocurrencies carries risks, such as price volatility and market risks. Before deciding to take cryptocurrency positions, consider your risk appetite. All forecasting methods, scenarios, and examples are illustrative and subject to market uncertainty.
Past performance offers context but does not ensure future results. Investment outcomes are subject to market volatility, economic changes, and other unpredictable variables.
Share with Friends
Ready to start your crypto journey?
Get your step-by-step guide to setting upan account with Crypto.com
By clicking the Submit button you acknowledge having read the Privacy Notice of Crypto.com where we explain how we use and protect your personal data.