In the crypto market, it's fashionable to talk about buying the dip on beaten-down cryptocurrencies. Historically, this strategy has worked with top cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
But what about XRP (XRP -1.61%)? It's now trading for a bargain-basement price of $1 and is down significantly from its summer 2025 high of $3.65. So is this a "buy the dip" opportunity for XRP right now?
This is not a dip
The problem, quite simply, is that this appears to be much more than just a dip. In the equity market, a dip implies a temporary pullback in price of anywhere from 5% to 10%. In the crypto market, that definition can be extended to include a pullback of up to 20%.
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But, in the case of XRP, we're talking about a 45% pullback in 2026 alone. Over the past year, XRP has been down more than 70%. That is not a dip; it is something much more profound. And it's certainly not "temporary," given how long it has gone on.
CRYPTO: XRP
Key Data Points
Just take a look at XRP's one-year chart. It looks like the world's sixth-largest cryptocurrency has gone into free fall. At a price of just $1, it is at serious risk of breaking through a psychologically important price level for investors. From there, XRP could fall as low as $0.50, where it traded in November 2024.
Is an XRP turnaround in sight?
That being said, there are plenty of investors willing to bet that XRP will turn things around soon. In the financial derivatives market, for example, there is unusually heavy demand for XRP long positions. According to data from CoinGlass, there are approximately three long positions open for every short position open. That's very bullish sentiment.
And in prediction markets, plenty of people are predicting that XRP can soar past $1 this year. On Kalshi, prediction market traders currently give XRP a 29% chance of reaching $1.50 in 2026 and a 16% chance of reaching $2.
But is a sudden increase in XRP's price just wishful thinking? After all, the much-hyped Clarity Act now appears to be derailed, and that was supposed to be the one catalyst capable of sending XRP much higher this year. Until the Clarity Act gets signed into law, there's no point in trying to buy XRP at bargain-basement prices.
