XRP (XRP) is trading at approximately $1.45, a 52% decline from its peak after Ripple’s legal victory over the SEC, even as Bitcoin continues its climb toward new highs above $80,000. The divergence highlights a classic market lesson where a widely anticipated positive outcome provided the perfect exit for long-term holders.
"By the time most retail investors heard the news and bought, the people who had bought early were already selling to them," Sam Daodu, a crypto analyst at 24/7 Wall St., wrote in a recent analysis. "This is called ‘buy the rumor, sell the news,’ and it is one of the oldest and most consistent patterns in financial markets."
The dynamic played out textbook-style for XRP. After the SEC lawsuit win was announced on August 7, 2025, the price briefly spiked 11% to $3.30 on a surge of buying. However, an investment of $30,000 to buy 10,000 XRP on that day would be worth only about $14,500 today. The selling pressure came from investors who had accumulated the token at prices below $0.50 during the multi-year legal battle and used the wave of positive news and high volume to take profits.
Even the launch of the first U.S. spot XRP ETFs in November 2025, which have since attracted over $1 billion in total inflows, failed to reverse the trend. Instead of sparking a new rally, the institutional liquidity merely provided a more efficient exit ramp for the early, large-scale investors. This has left XRP lagging significantly while capital flows toward assets with clearer upward momentum like Bitcoin, which has seen its own rally bolstered by massive ETF inflows and positive sentiment.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
