What happened?
XRP plunged about 42% during a market-wide selloff after the U.S. announced 100% tariffs on Chinese goods. The tariff shock sent Bitcoin, Ethereum and other major cryptos tumbling and triggered massive liquidations. Technically, XRP broke a symmetrical triangle, fell below the 100‑day SMA and briefly hit around $1.77 before finding some stability.
Who does this affect?
Short-term traders and leveraged positions were hit hardest by the fast, large move and forced liquidations. Long-term holders and institutional investors now face higher uncertainty as key supports like $2.30, $2.02 and $1.77 are tested. Broader market participants — exchanges, DeFi platforms and token projects — feel the pain from reduced liquidity and stronger correlation with global markets.
Why does this matter?
The crash shows crypto is increasingly tied to macro and geopolitical events, so policy shocks can quickly spill into digital assets. Higher volatility and broken technical levels raise the risk of further downside or a deeper reset, which could reshuffle allocation flows across institutions and retail. If macro conditions stabilize there’s room for a rebound toward $2.70–$3.18, but until then expect wider trading ranges, higher funding costs and crypto behaving more like risk-on equities than an isolated asset class.