XRP’s $1 Support Hangs By a Thread. Where Does XRP Go?

XRP’s $1 Support Hangs By a Thread. Where Does XRP Go?

Sam Daodu

Sun, August 16, 2026 at 2:32 PM GMT+3 6 min read

• XRP-USD +0.32%

Quick Read

• XRP broke below $1 twice in five days and trades 46% below its January price, and the last time it lost the level in 2021, it took almost three years to reclaim it.

• The CLARITY Act's cloture vote, Ripple's payment expansion, and ETF demand could sustain XRP above $1, and support a move toward $2 if market conditions improve.

• XRP could fall toward $0.70 if it loses $1 and fails to recover above $0.95 in Q4, although another three-year period below $1 appears unlikely.

• The most widely read finance newsletter on Substack isn't published by a bank, it's Doomberg, where 383,000+ readers get the energy and macro analysis the mainstream press misses. 24/7 Wall St. readers save 17% on their first year here.

The XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) price has fallen below the $1 support twice in the last five days, printing a 52-week low of $0.9915 on August 11 before dipping under the level again on August 14. The last time XRP lost the $1 support was in 2021, and it took almost three years to reclaim it.

Right now, XRP remains nearly 46% below its January 1 price of $1.88. So as buyers struggle to hold $1, where does the XRP price go next?

How XRP Has Performed After Losing $1 Since 2021

Between August and November 2021, XRP's price traded between $0.90 and $1.30 as the broader crypto market weakened, before finally closing below $1 on November 26, 2021.

The December 2020 SEC lawsuit against Ripple kept XRP under pressure throughout that stretch. Several exchanges delisted the token, and institutional buyers stayed on the sidelines while its regulatory status remained uncertain.

XRP then stayed below $1 through the 2022 Terra/Luna crash, which accelerated sell-offs and pushed the XRP price to around $0.29. The FTX collapse in November 2022 deepened that weakness and kept XRP below $0.50. Between Q1 2023 and Q4 2024, XRP made several attempts to reclaim $1 but failed to hold the level while the regulatory picture stayed unresolved.

From Our Partners

Written by Insiders. Answering to No One.

Before Doomberg published a word, its team spent long careers in heavy industry, private equity, and the hard sciences. They take no advertisers and serve no institution — which is why their lateral-thinking coverage of energy, finance, and geopolitics reads nothing like consensus financial media. Doomberg has set aside a discounted rate exclusively for 24/7 Wall St. readers — it isn't available on their main page.

Claim the 24/7 Wall St. Rate →

On November 16, 2024, XRP reclaimed $1 driven by Donald Trump's re-election. Eight months later, it reached an all-time high of $3.65, but those gains faded as market sentiment turned negative. On August 11 and 14, XRP fell below $1 again before recovering to the level, where it still trades today.

Why the CLARITY Act Matters for XRP

Regulatory clarity has driven XRP more than any other factor, and the CLARITY Act is the most immediate catalyst. After the Senate Banking Committee's 15-9 bipartisan vote on May 14, the XRP price rallied above $1.50 before retracing to around $1.40.

That retreat came from profit-taking in the $1.44 to $1.46 zone. Roughly 1.16 billion XRP had been bought at those prices by investors waiting to sell at breakeven, with about $3 billion in sell orders parked above them.

The CLARITY Act has stalled in the Senate since May, with the chamber entering its August recess without a vote. However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed a cloture motion to proceed on August 8, and the procedural vote is scheduled for September 15. Cloture is the step that ends debate and forces the bill onto the floor, so it decides whether the CLARITY Act gets a full vote at all.

That motion needs 60 votes, meaning at least seven Democrats must join the 53 Republicans. Galaxy Research expects at least two Republicans to vote against, which pushes the requirement closer to nine. If cloture passes, XRP could rally toward $1.50 in September and potentially reach $2 after a full Senate vote, although Galaxy Research puts the chances of the bill becoming law in 2026 at 10%.

Other Catalysts That Could Boost XRP's Performance Above $1

While the CLARITY Act is the catalyst everyone is watching, two others could lift the XRP price back above $1.

Ripple's Cross-Border Payment Expansion

In 2026, Ripple expanded its cross-border payment network through deals with Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Mastercard.

Ripple also obtained full EU authorization for a MiCA Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) licence and an EU Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence, which lets it serve institutions across all 30 EEA countries through a single regulated Ripple Payments relationship.

None of those deals moved the XRP price, because they run on Ripple's payment rails rather than requiring anyone to buy XRP. However, they matter if the CLARITY Act passes, since institutions would then have both the regulatory cover and the infrastructure to use XRP itself, which could push the price toward $2.

XRP ETFs

XRP ETFs have pulled in $1.51 billion in cumulative inflows since launching in November 2025, which shows institutional demand held up even as the broader market weakened. However, inflows have collapsed this year. XRP funds have taken in $3.27 million so far in August, with weekly inflows down 93% in the week ending August 8.

If monthly inflows return to May levels of $131.94 million, those funds would take supply off the market and add buying pressure, which would help XRP hold above $1.

What If XRP Fails to Reclaim $1?

XRP has fallen below $1 twice in August, and buyers pushed it back above the level each time. If they fail on the next attempt and market conditions do not improve in September, XRP would be trading below $1 with no catalyst until the cloture vote, which is the same position it held in late 2021.

If XRP loses the $1 support, the coin could trade between $0.80 and $0.95 in the near term. Without a rally above $0.95 in Q4, the XRP price could drop to around $0.70.

However, another three-year stretch below $1 looks unlikely. It would require a prolonged crypto bear market, a reversal in Ripple's cross-border expansion, and a loss of XRP's current catalysts, all of which appear unlikely today.

What $28 a Month Buys a Serious Investor

Through this reader link, 24/7 Wall St. readers get their first year of Doomberg for $332 — 17% off the standard $400, which works out to about $28 a month. That buys six to eight deeply researched articles a month on energy, finance, and geopolitics, the full archive, and one of the most resource-rich comment sections anywhere, where engineers, executives, and fund managers add context under every piece. After the first year it renews at the standard rate, and you can cancel anytime. If today's article touched energy or the macro picture, odds are the green chicken has already gone three layers deeper — see for yourself at the discounted rate.

Contact editorial@247wallst.com for any questions or corrections.