XRP Slips 2.6% as Fed Hold and Tech Jitters Overshadow Ripple's Expansion

XRP traded 2.6% lower on Wednesday, caught between a Federal Reserve that offered no comfort to risk assets and a technology selloff driven by worries over artificial intelligence that also weighed on Bitcoin and Ether. Profit-taking in the token and cooling inflows into US spot exchange-traded funds added to the pressure, leaving Ripple's recent corporate announcements on the sidelines.

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.75%–4.00% yesterday, a decision widely read as restrictive given persistent inflation concerns. The pause delivered no relief for XRP or other risk-sensitive holdings. Media reports pointed to a further drag from weak derivatives positioning, with the ratio of long to short positions in XRP at 0.60, alongside signals of a dominant seller side in blockchain transactions. Neither observation amounts to a forecast, but together they sketch a market short on convincing buying impetus.

Fund Flows Offer the Cleaner Demand Signal

Money movements through the funds give a more concrete read on appetite than headlines do. US spot XRP ETFs recorded net outflows of $3.61 million on Monday, according to media reports citing SoSoValue, with the withdrawals attributed to Bitwise's fund. The softness predates today's move: in the week through October 16, the funds posted their first weekly net outflow in 13 weeks, and flows have stayed muted since.

A separate snapshot for yesterday's session showed no net inflows, though only 2 of 5 funds had reported at the time of publication — a partial tally that cannot be treated as a final daily balance or as evidence of a broad institutional retreat.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying XRP?

Building Rails Is Not the Same as Buying the Token

On the business side, Ripple said yesterday it is on track for an annualized product revenue run rate of $900 million by the end of 2026, and it announced expanded partnerships with BNY and Robinhood. C2FO and Ripple also said on Tuesday that financing and settlement for C2FO Instant Pay would move onto the XRP Ledger, letting suppliers receive funds against approved invoices within seconds, with the RLUSD stablecoin handling settlement.

Those developments expand the network's utility and Ripple's commercial footprint. None of them carries a direct commitment to purchase XRP, a distinction that matters when corporate progress can coincide with a falling token price if overall willingness to take on risk is fading.

A Calendar Date, Not a Sell Signal

The next scheduled release of up to one billion XRP from escrow falls on November 1, 2026. The unlock on its own proves neither that the full amount will be sold nor that it will reach the market at all — a date to watch rather than confirmed selling pressure.

XRP at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.

For today's weakness, the risk-averse backdrop, profit-taking and the cooled fund flows take precedence. The announced applications and partnerships supply longer-term context, but no proof of a near-term turn in demand for the token.

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