[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] XRP fell below the $1 mark for the first time since November 2024.

On Aug. 11 (local time), blockchain outlet U.Today reported that XRP fell as low as $0.99 intraday on Binance, dropping below $1, which had been seen as a psychological support level.

The decline came after it emerged that 200,000 XRP had been withdrawn from a Coreum cross-chain bridge. With the price nearing a key psychological support level, security concerns also weighed on investor sentiment. At the time, XRP was trading at a lower price than Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD.

Moves in the derivatives market also quickened. XRP futures trading rose by double digits over a short period, and investors appeared to be adjusting positions ahead of the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) due on Aug. 12. As the CPI is a key macro indicator that can affect expectations for U.S. Treasury yields and monetary policy, the cryptocurrency market is also watching the outcome.

XRP’s price performance this year has also been weak. XRP is down about 46 percent since the start of the year and has also shown a sharp decline against bitcoin. Its relative return versus bitcoin was calculated to have fallen as much as 31 percent at one point.

There has not been a lack of positive developments tied to ecosystem expansion. Robinhood recently began supporting trading in several cryptocurrencies, including XRP, for users in Britain. XRP-linked investment products also saw steady inflows over the past two months, though the amounts were not large.

Ripple’s business expansion also continued. Ripple secured full Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) authorization in Europe and is also broadening the use of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) beyond payments. In June, it unveiled an XRPL lending protocol, and in the same month it also introduced an XRPL artificial intelligence (AI) starter kit that supports x402-based payments.

But such business and ecosystem expansion did not lead to a rebound in XRP’s price. It again showed that Ripple’s business results do not immediately translate into a rise in XRP’s market price. A large volume of XRP managed by Ripple also remains a factor the market continues to watch.

In the short term, macro indicators and derivatives-market flows are likely to drive XRP volatility. With the $1 level broken, security concerns and caution ahead of the CPI release have combined, and XRP is expected to react more sensitively to external factors than to ecosystem expansion news for the time being.