Anjali Belgaumkar

XRP is down while the broader market edges slightly higher, and the gap between Bitcoin's gains and XRP's stagnation tells the story of where capital is sitting right now. It is not in crypto. It is in AI stocks, and it has been there for over a year.

Three things just happened simultaneously to Bitcoin that have only occurred together at the exact bottom of every bear market in this asset's history. In 2015, 2019, 2022 and now, in the summer of 2026.

Ripple has received preliminary approval for a Crypto Asset Service Provider licence from Luxembourg's financial regulator, opening the door to full-scale regulated payments services across all 30 countries of the European Economic Area.

XRP is approaching what several technical analysts believe could be the final stage of its bear market cycle, with price structure pointing toward a low in the $0.87 to $0.90 range before a meaningful recovery begins.

Crypto markets are in freefall on Monday, and for once the selling has nothing to do with anything specific to digital assets. Bitcoin fell to $62,400, down 4% on the day, Ethereum dropped 5.45% to $1,657 and XRP slid 4.36% to $1.09.

Bitcoin is down more than 50% from its all-time high. Miners are shutting off machines. Capital that spent years flowing into crypto is chasing AI stocks instead. And the question being asked across every corner of the market right now is the same one it always is at moments like this: is it ever going to end?

XRP is trading at $1.09, down 3.41% over the past 24 hours, as broader market weakness continues to weigh on the token. Despite the daily decline, the weekly chart is telling a more stable story, with the critical $1.13 support level holding for now and a previously flagged bearish pattern looking increasingly unlikely to confirm.

Bitcoin crashed below $60,000 on Wednesday, hitting its lowest level in 21 months as a hotter than expected U.S. inflation report triggered a brutal selloff across every risk asset simultaneously.

XRP briefly touched $1.00 on Thursday before bouncing back, and the crypto community is as divided as it has ever been. One camp says this is the beginning of the end. The other says a historic repricing event is just weeks away. The truth, as it often is in crypto, sits somewhere in the middle and the CLARITY Act may be the moment that starts to clarify which side is closer to right.

Analysts have previously argued that XRP needs to reach at least $10 to deliver the returns most retail holders are expecting. Jake Claver, a digital asset analyst whose clients hold significant XRP positions, says that target is achievable but only if a specific set of conditions align at the same time.