XRP rose above $2 on Friday for the primary time since mid-December, extending a powerful begin to 2026 as merchants pointed to regular spot ETF inflows and enhancing U.S. regulatory sentiment.
Information cited by SoSoValue confirmed U.S. spot XRP ETFs took in $13.59 million on Jan. 2, pushing whole inflows since launch to $1.18 billion. The regular demand has helped tilt near-term provide and demand dynamics in XRP’s favor, whilst broader crypto benchmarks stay rangebound.
The transfer additionally comes as merchants reassess the regulatory backdrop after SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw’s departure, which some market members seen as clearing the best way for a extra crypto-friendly coverage stance.
Crenshaw had been among the many most vocal skeptics of crypto spot ETFs and had opposed the SEC dropping its enchantment within the Ripple case, based on market commentary.
Hypothesis round upcoming laws added to the momentum. Merchants pointed to a attainable Market Construction Invoice markup on Jan. 15, which has stored coverage expectations elevated into the primary quarter and contributed to the token’s outperformance.
XRP’s power stood out in opposition to blended flows in different main crypto ETFs.
The identical knowledge set cited by analysts confirmed weaker demand for bitcoin funds over the interval, reinforcing the view that XRP’s rally is being pushed extra by token-specific catalysts than a broad risk-on transfer.
XRP was final buying and selling simply over $2, up round 8%, whereas bitcoin hovered simply over $90,000 and ether traded round $3,000, each solely modestly greater on the day.
