XRP came under renewed selling pressure after the US Senate delayed a vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, commonly known as the CLARITY Act. The token fell from around $1.10 on July 27 to an intraday low near $1.05 on July 28, according to CoinGecko data, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune prioritized a Russia sanctions package and federal nominations over the crypto bill.
The postponement pushes any potential vote beyond Congress's August 8 recess, removing what many market participants had viewed as a near-term regulatory catalyst for XRP. While the legislation has not been rejected, the delay introduces fresh uncertainty over when lawmakers will address one of the crypto industry's most closely watched market structure bills.
Senate delay triggers profit-taking
The CLARITY Act aims to define how digital assets are regulated by drawing clearer boundaries between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. This outcome has been closely monitored by XRP investors due to Ripple's long-running legal battle with the SEC. Traders expecting quicker progress had increasingly viewed the legislation as a positive catalyst for XRP and other digital assets.
Instead, Senate leadership chose to prioritize other legislative business before the August recess. The postponement did not change the bill's committee status but delayed any immediate path toward a floor vote. Market participants later reassessed the development after the initial selloff, increasingly interpreting it as a scheduling issue rather than a sign of lost political support. This allowed some buying interest to return after the first wave of selling subsided.
The broader crypto market was already moving into a defensive stance ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee's July 28–29 meeting. Bitcoin briefly fell below $63,500, while Ethereum lost about 4%, triggering deleveraging across large-cap cryptocurrencies. For XRP, the reaction proved particularly sharp, with the token sliding from roughly $1.10 on July 27 to nearly $1.05 on July 28 before buyers gradually returned, lifting the price back toward $1.08 by July 29.
Institutional demand provides a floor
Despite the uncertainty, institutional demand remained relatively stable. Continued net inflows into US spot XRP exchange-traded funds helped absorb part of the selling pressure, limiting the depth of the decline. This pattern mirrors recent trends seen in other digital assets, such as the WLFI token's stability amid Senate scrutiny.
Liquidation data further illustrates how quickly sentiment changed. During the past 24 hours, approximately $4.25 million worth of XRP positions were liquidated, with long positions accounting for $3.64 million while short liquidations totaled about $614,000. The imbalance suggests the decline was driven largely by leveraged bullish positions being forced out of the market rather than aggressive short selling. After most leveraged longs had already been flushed out, forced selling eased considerably, allowing XRP to stabilize around the $1.05 support zone before recovering toward $1.08.
Technical analysis: resistance remains
From a technical perspective, XRP continues to trade inside a broader bearish structure despite recovering from Tuesday's low. On the daily chart, XRP remains below its 20-day, 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day exponential moving averages, which currently sit near $1.10, $1.13, $1.22, and $1.41, respectively. The stacked arrangement of those moving averages continues to favor sellers and indicates that every recovery still faces multiple layers of overhead resistance.
Momentum indicators, however, read a bit more balanced. The daily Relative Strength Index has climbed back to around 45 after weakening earlier this month, showing bearish momentum has moderated without signaling that buyers have fully regained control. Because the RSI remains below the neutral 50 level, the indicator continues to favor caution rather than confirming a sustained trend reversal.
The 4-hour chart presents early signs that selling pressure is beginning to cool. XRP rebounded after testing the lower Bollinger Band near the $1.04-$1.05 region, an area that also coincided with the support established during the Senate-driven selloff. Since then, the token has climbed back toward the middle Bollinger Band around $1.08. Meanwhile, although both MACD lines remain below the zero line, the histogram has become less negative, and the MACD line is gradually converging with the signal line. Such a setup typically indicates fading bearish momentum, though confirmation would require a bullish crossover supported by stronger buying volume.
After falling sharply on July 28, XRP spent several hours building a base near $1.05 before beginning to print higher lows and higher highs during July 29. Buyers have managed to defend the support zone so far, but the recovery has remained orderly instead of accelerating into a breakout. The immediate hurdle now sits around the 20-day EMA near $1.10. A sustained move above that level would be needed to challenge the next resistance at $1.13, while a failure to hold $1.05 could open the door to further downside toward the $1.00 psychological level.
The delay in the CLARITY Act vote adds to a broader landscape of regulatory uncertainty that has weighed on digital assets. For context, similar legislative dynamics have affected other major stocks, as seen with Amazon's 4% drop on a Senate probe. Meanwhile, the upcoming Fed rate decision and ongoing earnings season could further influence risk appetite across markets.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
