XRP Logs Biggest Losses Since 2022
XRP fell 4% and logged its biggest realized loss spike since 2022, with the Ripple-linked token struggling against technical resistance and negative sentiment. Analysts note that while past capitulation waves have sometimes been followed by recoveries, XRP is currently facing significant headwinds in the current market environment.
- The recent spike in on-chain realized losses for XRP reportedly hit approximately $1.93 billion, a level not seen since a similar event in 2022. Following the 2022 capitulation, XRP's price surged 114% over the subsequent eight months. - Despite the price drop, activity on the XRP Ledger has been increasing, with daily transactions nearing 2.5 million, a surge of about 40%. This divergence between rising network usage and falling price is a key point of observation for analysts. - Ripple President Monica Long has stated that she expects 2026 to be the year of "institutional adoption at scale" for the XRP Ledger. She predicts that by the end of the year, half of Fortune 500 companies will have a digital asset strategy. - The long-running lawsuit between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially concluded in August 2025. The court ruled that XRP is not a security when sold to the public on secondary markets, a decision that provided regulatory clarity and led to the approval of several spot XRP ETFs. - Analyst opinions on XRP's future price are mixed. Geoffrey Kendrick of Standard Chartered revised the bank's 2026 year-end target for XRP down from $8 to $2.80. In contrast, analyst CryptoBull has forecasted a potential surge to $4 by early March 2026 and as high as $9 by March 11, based on chart patterns similar to those seen in 2017. - The growth of Ripple's USD-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, which has surpassed a $1.4 billion market cap, is seen as a potential catalyst for the XRP price in 2026 as it drives more utility to the XRP Ledger. - Large XRP holders, or "whales," have reportedly been accumulating the token during the early 2026 selloff. Wallets holding over one billion XRP increased their aggregate holdings from 23.35 billion to 23.49 billion XRP since January 2026. - Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse was appointed to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Innovation Advisory Committee in February 2026, a move initially seen as a positive development for XRP's regulatory standing.
