Ripple Has Dropped to 5th Place: Is XRP’s Bull Run Officially Over?

XRP has lost its momentum lately, but will the battle continue?

Ripple’s cross-border token had a spectacular run over the past year, culminating in the summer of 2025 with a surge to a new all-time high of $3.65. Thus, it managed to break the 2017 peak after more than eight years below $3.4.

However, the rally hit a huge roadblock that made it impossible to reach and exceed these levels. What’s especially painful for the XRP army is that Bitcoin managed to hit a new all-time high earlier this week. Furthermore, BNB has emerged as one of the biggest gainers recently, overtaking XRP in terms of market capitalization after a stunning rally.

The question now arises whether the focus has shifted from Ripple’s token to others, and whether it will ever regain its former glory. Or, it’s all over, folks.

The Demise of XRP

XRP’s current market structure shows a distinct lack of new buying momentum, which, in line with the gains of other altcoins, resulted in the aforementioned drop to fifth place. A significant part of this can be attributed to the lack of new catalysts.

For example, XRP’s most substantial price gains came after the US elections, reflecting hopes for a new, friendlier regulatory regime in the country following Trump’s victory and the inevitable departure of then-SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Then came the hope for a favorable resolution in the lawsuit between the securities watchdog and the company behind the asset.

Now, however, the excitement for both has disappeared, evidenced by the missing positive price action. Instead, investors are focusing on faster-moving assets like BNB, ASTER and a few others.

In terms of a more micro trend, it is clear that XRP, along with the rest of the market, has experienced one of the worst crashes in recent history. Ripple’s token fell below $1.5 on several exchanges before recovering some ground to $2.50 at the time of writing. This also increases the chance of an end to the bull run.

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Can XRP turn the tables?

While the situation looks grim right now, Ripple’s native token still has an ace up its sleeve in the form of another catalyst that’s getting the community excited: spot XRP ETFs in the US. With only a few months to go until the end of the year, the odds on Polymarket, in addition to the general expectations of experts, show a decisive victory for the XRP army.

However, there are some disadvantages here too. First, the US government has been shut down for over a week, hampering any progress from institutions like the SEC. Secondly, with a 99% chance of an XRP ETF approval in 2025 on Polymarket, there are concerns that this development has already been priced in.

What can’t be priced in, however, is the actual impact on the native token when inflows start (or don’t). As investors rush to buy shares of the newly launched XRP ETFs, the likely scenario is that the underlying asset will rise, unless there is a black swan or market-wide crash of course.

However, if they remain on the sidelines, the consequences could be even greater, but in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, demand for some of the regulated XRP products launched in the US over the past year has been quite impressive, which should be promising for Ripple’s community if the green light comes from the SEC.