XRP Holds Near $1 as Policy Uncertainty Counters XRPL Upgrade Push

Ripple’s XRP is trading in a narrow range around $1.04, caught between renewed regulatory uncertainty in Washington and a parallel push to make the XRP Ledger (XRPL) more attractive to institutional users. The divergence underscores a market that is struggling to price near-term headline risk while acknowledging longer-term infrastructure upgrades that could broaden XRPL’s role in tokenized finance.

According to CoinMarketCap data as of Aug. 9, 2026 at 17:17 UTC, XRP was changing hands at $1.0430, down 0.31% over 24 hours and 3.44% over the past week. The longer look remains soft: XRP is down 5.38% over 30 days, 6.28% over 60 days, and 29.04% over 90 days, reinforcing the view that the token has been in a sustained corrective phase since the second quarter.

XRP’s market capitalization stood near $65.2 billion, with a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of roughly $142.99 billion. Trading activity cooled materially, with 24-hour volume at about $583 million—down 34.6% from the prior day. Notably, centralized exchanges accounted for virtually all of that flow, with decentralized exchange volume reported at only around $0.42 million, highlighting a market structure still dominated by traditional venue liquidity. Circulating supply was approximately 62.53 billion XRP, or about 62.5% of the 100 billion maximum supply.

The immediate macro and policy backdrop has weighed on sentiment. Market watchers have pointed to the U.S. Senate’s decision to delay consideration of the ‘CLARITY Act’—legislation intended to define clearer boundaries between securities and commodities in digital assets—as a key overhang. The bill’s timetable has shifted beyond the August recess, pushing expectations for a formal vote into September.

Analysts cited by CoinStats and crypto.news argued that the postponement has been a direct source of downside pressure across major altcoins, including XRP, amplifying the impact of a firmer U.S. dollar and broader macro uncertainty. In that view, intermittent liquidation-driven selling has repeatedly tested the $1.04 area, turning it into a battleground for short-term positioning.

For XRP specifically, regulatory clarity is closely linked to ‘institutional demand’. While the long-running dispute between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has largely moved off center stage, investors continue to view the absence of a comprehensive U.S. framework as a practical constraint on incremental institutional allocations, particularly for compliance-sensitive firms.

Yet the technology story on XRPL is moving in the opposite direction. The XRPL community on Aug. 7 proposed version 3.3.0, a package that includes six amendments aimed at improving enterprise and institutional usability. The most closely watched addition is ‘Confidential Transfers’, which leverages zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to enable selective disclosure of transaction details to designated parties such as issuers, auditors, and regulators.

Supporters argue the feature attempts to bridge a long-standing tension in public blockchains: preserving auditability while meeting the privacy and information-control requirements of corporations and financial institutions. That positioning aligns with XRPL’s broader ambition to become a foundational layer for tokenization of traditional assets such as funds and bonds—an area CoinStats described as targeting a Wall Street tokenized-asset market estimated at about $53 billion.

Ripple’s corporate moves have also fed the longer-term narrative. FXLeaders reported that Ripple recently raised $500 million at an implied valuation of $40 billion, a signal—if confirmed by further disclosures—that the company is attempting to scale beyond its original remittance-focused branding toward a more expansive financial infrastructure model.

Within that framework, Ripple USD (RLUSD), the company’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, is being positioned to support liquidity for cross-border transactions, while XRP remains oriented toward high-speed, high-frequency international value transfer. Observers see this ‘role separation’ as an effort to improve utility across the ecosystem, potentially expanding use cases without forcing a single asset to satisfy every settlement and liquidity need.

Market commentary has floated upside scenarios following a sustained defense of the $1 handle, with some models citing a potential upper range between $1.10 and $2.50. However, those figures reflect forward-looking projections rather than confirmed market levels, and the current tape continues to reflect hesitation ahead of policy catalysts.

For now, XRP’s outlook hinges on how quickly near-term uncertainty can clear. In the short run, the delayed ‘CLARITY Act’ timeline, dollar strength, and macro risk appetite continue to reinforce range-bound trading near $1.04. Over the medium to long term, the XRPL 3.3.0 roadmap, tokenization-focused infrastructure work, Ripple’s reported fundraising, and RLUSD’s expansion represent structural developments that could influence adoption trends—particularly if the U.S. policy environment becomes more legible after the expected September vote.