NEW YORK, March 5, 2026, 12:57 EST — Regular session
- XRP slips roughly 2% to trade near $1.40, pulling back after Wednesday’s 5% rally.
- Banks are hitting pause on stablecoin rewards, leaving a U.S. crypto market-structure bill stuck once more.
- Ripple is pushing its payments platform expansion, while traders eye Friday’s U.S. jobs numbers.
XRP slipped roughly 2% to $1.40 on Thursday, sliding near session lows as traders trimmed exposure to crypto. A day prior, the token jumped 5.2%.
The latest snag came as lawmakers trying to hammer out the U.S. Clarity Act—a bill aiming to lay down federal crypto rules—ran into yet another dead end. This time, banks rejected efforts by the White House to strike a deal over stablecoin rewards, digital tokens that mirror the dollar. Trump, posting on Truth Social, lashed out at the banks: “We are not going to allow them to undermine our powerful Crypto Agenda.” Stifel chief Washington strategist Brian Gardner put it bluntly: “The calendar is becoming the enemy of this bill.” Reuters
The reason it matters now? Much of crypto trading boils down to policy risk hiding in plain sight. Investors move in when the regulatory picture sharpens, but they don’t hesitate to pull back the moment clarity fades—especially with tokens like XRP, which are still at the mercy of shifting regulatory sentiment.
Risk appetite faded as the dollar jumped following escalating conflict involving Iran, and a government bond selloff drove yields up. “Traditional safe havens, such as gold, are not playing their usual part,” noted Rabobank strategist Bas van Geffen. Bitcoin and ether weakened, too. Reuters
Some developments broke away from the defensive tone. Kraken’s banking unit landed a limited-purpose master account with the Federal Reserve, clearing a path to use major payment systems like Fedwire directly. “This milestone marks the convergence of crypto infrastructure and sovereign financial rails,” said Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken’s parent, Payward. Reuters
Ripple rolled out a substantial upgrade to its Ripple Payments product this week, tacking on managed custody and collections via virtual accounts. The company says the platform now tops $100 billion in processed volume. “Fintechs and financial institutions need infrastructure that treats digital assets with the same rigor as traditional finance,” Ripple president Monica Long said. Ripple
XRP sits at the intersection of two narratives that rarely align. On one side, firms keep expanding their reach into the infrastructure of payments. On the other, legislators remain tangled over who is responsible for handing out which rewards—and on what timetable.
But there’s still a bearish scenario. Should the Clarity Act stall into summer while conflict-fueled energy price shocks keep weighing on rate-cut hopes, traders may keep trimming risk—smaller coins tend to take the first hit.
Investors are keeping an eye out for any indication that lawmakers in Washington might resume talks—especially if it resolves the “rewards” dispute without dooming the bill. Rates continue to dominate as the main driver in markets, with crypto behaving accordingly.
Eyes turn to Friday, when the U.S. Labor Department drops its February jobs numbers—March 6, 8:30 a.m. ET sharp. This is the kind of print that can jolt the dollar and shake up risk assets almost instantly.
