XRP loses position 3rd largest crypto spot as Ripple confirms postponing stablecoin launch

Ripple confirmed that it has delayed the launch of its stablecoin. Meanwhile, the price of XRP has dropped, causing it to lose its recently-earned position as the third-largest cryptocurrency.

Ripple, widely known for its cross-border payments in the crypto space, has postponed the launch of its stablecoin, $RLUSD, as it awaits a final nod from the New York Department of Financial Services. In an official announcement on X, Ripple said, “$RLUSD isn’t launching today.” on Dec. 5.

The announcement coincided with a noticeable decline in Ripple’s native token’s (XRP) market price. XRP’s price dropped from $2.59 to $2.31 within 24 hours, as per CoinMarketCap. This sharp tail-off has pushed XRP away from the position of the third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, falling short of Tether’s (USDT) market cap of $135.8 billion.

XRP’s selling pressure increases

At press time, XRP’s market cap stands at $131.42B, a 12% drop seen in the last 24 hours. However, XRP continues to stay ahead of Solana (SOL) and Binance token (BNB) even as the latter reached its all-time high on Dec. 4. XRP’s 24-hour trading volume also plummeted to $26.02B, nearly 40% down from yesterday.

XRP futures trading volume drops sharply to below $16 billion on December 4, 2024, accompanied by a declining price trend, highlighting reduced market activity. | Source: crypto.news

While the news of the postponement of RLUSD preceded the drop in price, speculations could be tied to the panic selling, as per Glassnode metrics. This is further highlighted in the increased selling pressure, where both price and trading volume has come down over $32 billion to $16 billion on Dec. 4, confirming that the market is in a cooling-off period at the moment. This could also have added to XRP’s ranking and its drop from the third largest crypto.

What is next for XRP?

The price could also be influenced by the surge in stablecoins the market is witnessing reflected by the 24-hour volume at $317.13 billion. Ripple’s success with its stablecoin is key to enhancing its On-Demand Liquidity platform, which facilitates swift cross-border payments and could drive XRP prices higher.

As a measure of XRP’s recent price action, Bollinger Bands can show where the price is and where it might be headed next.

XRP/USD price chart showing Bollinger Bands narrowing as the price hovers near $2.31. The recent price drop follows high volatility observed earlier this week, with trading volumes peaking around December 3. | Source: crypto.news.

After rising sharply up to its most recent resistance at $2.74451, the support low was just above the critical $2.2 level. At present, the narrowing of the bands implies diminished volatility, with market participants looking for either a breakout or breakdown to decide the next major XRP price move.