XRP barely budged above $1.10 even as the CLARITY Act moved toward a critical Senate deadline, underscoring how little immediate conviction traders have that near-term U.S. crypto legislation will reprice the token.
XRP Stalls Despite CLARITY Act Deadline
That matters because XRP has been trading like a policy bet as much as a cryptocurrency: lawmakers’ definition of digital assets, and whether XRP ends up inside or outside a clearer regulatory framework, goes straight to the asset’s investability, exchange access and institutional appetite. For investors, the lack of a reaction is its own signal — the market is waiting for actual legislative passage, not just calendar pressure, before assigning a premium.
XRP closed at $1.11 on July 20, up just 0.9% from $1.10 the prior day, after touching a high of $1.12 and a low of $1.08. Volume more than doubled to 1.27 billion tokens from 632.8 million, but the move remained tight, suggesting buyers and sellers are still balanced rather than positioned for a breakout.
Technically, XRP is still pinned near the lower end of its recent range. The token sits just above the lower Bollinger Band at $1.05, while the 50-day moving average is $1.12 and the 200-day moving average is $1.42, leaving the longer-term trend negative despite a modest rebound from the February washout to $1.21. RSI readings at 42.5 point to a market that is neither oversold enough to force capitulation nor strong enough to trigger a momentum chase.
The muted response comes even as the broader crypto market remains more resilient. Bitcoin closed at $65,216 and Ether at $1,903.31 on July 20, both higher on the day, showing that XRP is not simply tracking the sector but remains constrained by its own regulatory overhang.
That overhang is central to the investment case. XRP’s 2026 filing says digital asset markets in the U.S. remain in a state of regulatory uncertainty and notes limited use in retail, commercial and payments spaces, with speculators still accounting for a significant share of users. In practical terms, that leaves the token dependent on policy clarity and exchange access more than on organic payment demand.
The market’s hesitation also reflects the gap between headlines and hard outcomes. The CLARITY Act may be a meaningful catalyst if it advances, but traders are signaling that a deadline alone does not change the calculus. Until there is a concrete vote or final legislative language, XRP is likely to keep trading as a narrow, event-driven asset with asymmetric upside on clarity and downside if the process stalls.
| Entity | Gains | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| XRP longs | ▲A clearer legal framework | ▼Breakout momentum |
| XRP shorts | ▲Regulatory stalemate | ▼Policy-driven squeeze |
| Crypto exchanges | ▲Defined listing rules | ▼Ongoing U.S. uncertainty |
| Bitcoin and Ether | ▲Relative capital rotation | ▼None directly from XRP’s stall |
