New York, February 11, 2026, 12:23 (ET) — Regular session
XRP dropped roughly 4% to $1.36 on Wednesday, following a broader retreat among key digital tokens. Bitcoin slid about 4.6%, while ether took a steeper hit, falling around 5.2%.
The shift came as U.S. rate forecasts adjusted following a shutdown-delayed jobs report revealing a 130,000 increase in payrolls for January—almost twice what was predicted—and the unemployment rate slipping to 4.3%. According to Reuters, interest-rate futures traders now assign roughly a 20% probability to a Federal Reserve rate cut by April. 1
The next test arrives fast. The U.S. consumer price index for January drops Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET. This report frequently shakes up yields and the dollar — and, in turn, risk assets tied to liquidity and rate-cut expectations. 2
XRP got a boost from fresh company news. Aviva Investors announced a partnership with Ripple to explore tokenising funds on the XRP Ledger, marking Ripple’s first tie-up with a Europe-based investment manager. Jill Barber, Aviva Investors’ chief distribution officer, highlighted the “time and cost efficiency” benefits they expect. 3
UAE digital bank Zand and Ripple are teaming up to expand their stablecoin and blockchain efforts in the Middle East, The Paypers reports. Their plans include integrating Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin into Zand’s regulated custody services and enabling direct liquidity between RLUSD and Zand’s own AEDZ token. (Stablecoins are crypto tokens pegged to maintain a consistent value, usually tied to a currency.) 4
These moves come after a lengthy legal cloud finally cleared. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wrapped up its lawsuit against Ripple in August 2025. Ripple agreed to a $125 million settlement, and both parties dropped their appeals, according to a Reuters report at the time. 5
Wednesday’s price moves reinforced a well-known trend among crypto traders: macro factors still dictate the market. When chances of rate cuts drop and yields climb, tokens tend to behave like volatile stand-ins for risk appetite, no matter what’s happening with deal flow.
The risk is that Friday’s inflation figures come in hotter than expected. That would likely reinforce bets on a prolonged period of higher interest rates, adding more pressure on crypto prices after the market’s recent volatility.
Traders are eyeing Friday’s CPI as the next key trigger — hoping fresh institutional deals turn into real, regulated products instead of just another batch of pilots.
