[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] XRP is extending a weaker trend than the broader cryptocurrency market in recent days.

On Aug. 10 (local time), blockchain media outlet Decrypt reported that XRP posted the worst return over the past week among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market value, citing delays in handling the U.S. “Digital Asset Market Clarity Act” as a main backdrop.

As the overall market has moved sideways without a clear direction in recent weeks, XRP has risen less in up moves and fallen more in down moves. XRP fell 4.96 percent over 7 days, weaker than Solana, which rose 3.64 percent, and bitcoin, which gained 1.17 percent in the same period. On a daily basis, it also slipped 1.24 percent, underperforming a market that largely stayed in a flat range.

Behind the move is a delay in the U.S. Congress’ handling of the bill. If passed, it would establish the first official legal framework for cryptocurrencies in the United States, and XRP could be classified as a digital commodity, potentially reducing regulatory uncertainty that has weighed on institutional demand. The market has been pricing in those expectations, but the Senate was unable to hold a vote before the August recess. That has weakened the remaining expectation of passage within the year.

The process has not come to a complete stop. Senate Majority Leader John Thune submitted a cloture motion on the bill before lawmakers entered recess, and a procedural vote is scheduled for Sept. 15. But the bill needs 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. With Democrats still cautious, assessments say the chances of passage within 2026 are not high.

Market expectations have cooled quickly in recent days. As of late July, reports said President Donald Trump would accept ethics provisions that had deadlocked the bill, lifting the prediction market Polymarket’s passage probability to 43 percent from 32 percent and prompting a rally across cryptocurrencies. But XRP is now showing weakness to the point that some assessments say it is moving as if the market is unwinding the Clarity trade.

Technical action is also cited as a burden. XRP traded around $1.01 and had a market value of about $64.0 billion. Recent daily charts showed a downtrend with steadily lower highs and lower lows. After sliding from around $1.30 in late June, it rebounded to $1.15 on July 21 on expectations around the bill, but failed to hold the gains and gave them back. Decrypt reported at the time that the rebound “looks like a classic bull trap rather than a trend reversal.”

Bearish signals also remain in place based on moving averages. That is because the “death cross” has persisted, with the 50-day exponential moving average below the 200-day line. It means the medium-term downtrend has not yet broken. An analysis said that to view buying structurally returning, the daily close would need to move back above key moving-average zones, requiring a rebound of more than 8 percent.

Momentum indicators are also not strong. The relative strength index stands at 38.2, remaining below the neutral level of 50. It has not fallen below 30, the oversold zone, but is tilted toward weakness. The average directional index was measured at 14.6, pointing to a market without strong conviction about the trend. Directional indicators, however, leaned more to the downside, aligning with the death-cross signal.

Conditions for a short-term rebound were also laid out. If XRP posts a daily close above the $1.0486 Fibonacci resistance line, it could be interpreted as the first sign of buying inflows. After that, the $1.0887 to $1.1066 range is cited as the next target. Conversely, if it loses the $1.0128 low and even breaks the $1 level, the door could open to further declines toward the lower $0.90 range.

Ultimately, XRP’s short-term direction depends on whether expectations around the U.S. bill revive. For now, both the chart and flows are sending signals that downside pressure is greater than upside pressure.