New York, March 5, 2026, 17:31 ET — After-hours
- XRP slipped roughly 3%, trading near $1.40 after hitting a 24-hour top close to $1.45.
- Ripple said its Ripple Prime clients are now able to access Coinbase Derivatives contracts—including XRP futures—through Nodal Clear.
- Negotiations in Washington over the “Clarity Act” stalled again as banks pushed hard for stricter caps on crypto rewards.
XRP dropped roughly 3% to $1.40 on Thursday, CoinMarketCap data showed, swinging between $1.40 and $1.45 during the session. Market cap hovered close to $86 billion, while trading volume was about $2.8 billion in the last 24 hours.
The drop followed Ripple’s deeper move into U.S. regulated derivatives linked to XRP. Ripple and Nodal Clear announced that Ripple Prime clients now have access to the complete offering of Coinbase Derivatives contracts, including XRP futures—trading around the clock, all under the eye of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Coinbase’s Boris Ilyevsky cited “demand for regulated crypto futures,” while Paul Cusenza at Nodal Clear called Ripple’s arrival as a clearing member a welcome one. Business Wire
The expansion comes as lawmakers in Washington remain deadlocked over crypto trading regulations. Negotiations around the “Clarity Act” broke down again, sources told Reuters, after banks pushed back against a White House-endorsed deal outlining when stablecoin yields would be permitted. Stablecoins, which are meant to mirror the value of the dollar, sometimes offer yield—essentially, interest to holders. “The calendar is becoming the enemy of this bill,” said Stifel’s Brian Gardner. But Summer Mersinger, who heads the Blockchain Association, argued, “the path to a workable agreement is clearer.” Reuters
Geopolitical tensions rattled markets beyond crypto. U.S. and European equities slid, while oil prices surged for a sixth straight day as the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran unfolded. U.S. crude ended the session up 8.5% at $81.01 a barrel, with Brent settling at $85.41, according to Reuters. “We have a cloud of uncertainty with the Iranian crisis under way,” said Mona Mahajan, head of investment strategy and asset allocation at Edward Jones. Reuters
The dollar picked up steam again, putting more pressure on risk assets. Renewed safe-haven buying lifted the greenback, while bitcoin and ether slid roughly 3% late, according to Reuters. “When we have heightened volatility and heightened risk, the dollar certainly rallies,” said Elisabeth Colleran of Loomis Sayles. Reuters
XRP sits at a crossroads—one foot in the door for institutional flows, the other still tripped up by policy wrangling. Traders tend to lump big tokens like this into the high-beta basket: they pop when risk is back on, then slip when cash and oil start to look safer.
Futures access isn’t a one-way street. Yes, deeper regulated markets may help institutions hedge or build positions more easily. But the same access draws in quick-money players, sometimes turning headlines into sharper moves.
The risks are clear enough: Should the Clarity Act negotiations drag on into summer, or if persistent, war-fueled oil prices keep stoking inflation jitters, those rate-cut bets could evaporate, leaving crypto bids exposed. XRP, notably, has a habit of making abrupt swings as legal or regulatory winds shift.
For some investors, the Ripple-SEC legal standoff hasn’t gone away. The SEC brought its case against Ripple back in 2020, alleging unregistered securities sales linked to XRP. Fast forward to 2023—a court ruling drew a line between XRP transactions on public exchanges and certain institutional deals, and that split has been steering compliance risk conversations ever since.
Traders have their eyes on the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due Friday, March 6, while speculation lingers over whether the Clarity Act compromise might resurface ahead of the July deadline in Congress. Wild cards? Any developments in Iran or sudden shifts in oil prices.
