XRP's Price Plummets Amid Regulatory Headwinds and Stablecoin Competition
XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger, has seen its price drop by more than 60% over the past 12 months. This decline can be attributed to a combination of factors including interest rate hikes, regulatory headwinds, and competition from stablecoins.
The cryptocurrency's founders launched XRP in 2012 as part of Ripple, a provider of blockchain-based money transfers. By early 2018, XRP had reached a record high of $3.84 per token, but today it trades at around $1.
XRP is primarily used as a bridge currency for fiat currencies on the Ripple network, offering faster and cheaper transactions compared to conventional SWIFT transfers. However, its biggest challenge has been a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was triggered in 2020 by Ripple's sales of XRP tokens to fund its business.
The SEC initially accused Ripple of selling XRP as an unlicensed security, leading top cryptocurrency exchanges to delist it. However, the lawsuit concluded in 2025 with a lighter-than-expected fine against Ripple and a ruling that XRP wasn't an unlicensed security when sold to retail investors.