XRP‘s most recent trading volume surge further implies XRP’s selling pressure contributed to the recently muted sentiment within the rest of the crypto market. The tremor was secondary to the US SEC announcing the postponement of reviewing the Franklin Templeton XRP-Spot Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). As expected, XRP was not able to reclaim a previously attained price level for quite some time which caused XRP to move in conjunction with other major altcoins that tend to follow the same trend. XRP’s speculation appreciated even if negative market sentiments were surrounding.
XRP Suffering: ETF Delays Chill the Entire Market
XRP showed an extreme level of XRP selling as they reached an all-time high of $3.36 before hitting reality. Ripple eventually managed to enter a consolidation phase only moving within a range of $2.1269 to $2.90. With XRPording the token reaching a high of 3.3621 Dollars on Monday, the remainder of the week was painful seeing that the token bottoms around $2数字0.
Such behavior demonstrates the speed at which the ecosystem is able to incorporate regulation-related XRP news or even peripheral crypto ETF updates, such as the one that was expected to be approved shortly.
John Squire, a well known social media figure and XRP advocate, offered an unorthodox explanation for the SEC’s lack of activity. He muses: “What if the SEC actually bakes in XRP as recompense payments? Wouldn’t it be something hot if the US Government decides to settle with Ripple and accepts XRP instead of cash?” Squire speculated that the delay in ETF approvals might allow the SEC to strategically manage public perception.
Squire explains that under his logic, the endorsement delay allows the SEC to leverage XRP without approvals as long as endorsement price speculative trading is capped. He argues that if speculative markup is capped, the SEC could also afford to accept more favorable conditions before the price guardians step in. According to Squire, this speculative delay gives the SEC opportunity to design a contentious low-value swap agreement for the asset, thus wait until they lower the value for a less contentious agreement.
The Ripple-SEC Drama: The Central Conflict of XRP’s ETF
SEC’s opposition on Programmatic Sales of XRP could further delay the XRP-spot ETFs. Ripple and the SEC made a joint motion to stay the appeal on the basis of inter partes settlement negotiations. It is argued that that the settlement proposed would include lifting the ban that was put on institutional sales of XRP by Ripple and further decreasing the 125 million dollar penalty they placed on them.
John Squire agreed and added, “Mark your calendars for June 17, that date might hold the key of unlocking the true nature of XRP. Until then, all stagnations are assumed to result from central master scheme.”
An Economic Contraction Amid Bitcoin’s Brief Decline
The slump in XRP price coincided with Bitcoin’s dip in value, which fell to 93000 post the US economy’s quarter 1 2025 GDP growth rate of -0.3%. The unanticipated growth slump intensified fears of recession in the US, which negatively impacts general market psychology and cryptocurrencies.
Although the economic outlook remains grim, there is still positive sentiment based on bitcoin ETF inflows.
Despite the challenging economic circumstances, the Bitcoin market experienced inflows; there are negative concerns surrounding an eight day leash streak of inflow. Farside Investors observed as of April 30th that flow trends suggested net outflows from both the Fidelity and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETFs. However, even without considering the data from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) still domestic issuers ran up an outflow estimate of $323.3 million. On brighter note, ETF sponsors seemed to fare better in April, estimating inflows of $2,675.1 million, helping Bitcoin recover in the middle of the month.
Forecast for Bitcoin: Political policies are now in charge
Bitcoin saw slight declines of 0.19% on the 30th, following a dip on Tuesday, but still observing an overall rise in April (+14.12%). The prospective moves in price will highly rely on the US-China trade relations, the Fed’s plans, general economic condition, and crypto legislation. In other news, Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis put forward a bold proposition for a US purchase of Bitcoin dubbed the ‘Bitcoin Act,’ while the state of Arizona passed its Bitcoin Reserve bill showcasing the growing scope of bipartisan crypto policy support.
Final thoughts: lacking directional clarity in a volatile market.
Unlike the other cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin remains resilient to falls because of ETF-linked inflows and the macroeconomic policies in place. The crypto market is anxiously waiting for the first steps in legislative and regulatory frameworks, as well as the results of Ripple’s ongoing legal tussle with the SEC. The already prevailing ‘wait-and-see’ mood around XRP-spot ETF decision makings is bound to increase the existing uncertainty.
