XRP’s Bumpy Road to $3.84

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Three years ago, I bought XRP because a barista told me it was the next Bitcoin. She was wrong, of course, but I still haven’t sold. XRP has gone up 770% since then-enough to make me wonder if I should’ve just invested in a mutual fund and read a book instead of Googling “how to feel rich without actually being rich.” But here we are: XRP is still $3.84 shy of its 2018 peak, like a soufflé that collapsed mid-bake.

The token’s defenders, who I imagine wear pinstripe suits and whisper in code, cite ETF approvals and institutional adoption as potential catalysts. PNC Bank and Santander using XRP for cross-border payments? It’s like if your uncle started using a gluten-free bread and suddenly everyone called him “visionary.” Maybe. But let’s not forget: My cousin once bought Dogecoin because a meme told him to, and he’s still paying off his losses in Monopoly money.

Still, I get it. XRP has legs. Or so I tell myself when I check the price during family dinners. The question isn’t whether it’ll rise-it’s whether it’ll do so without first tumbling into a ditch.

1. The Great Cash-Out of ’25

Speculative investors, those charming free spirits, love to sell when things get interesting. I’ve seen it happen with the subtlety of a fireworks show. You buy in during the quiet, and suddenly it’s 4th of July. In 2018, XRP hit $3.84 and then promptly nose-dived like a drunk hummingbird. My barista would’ve called it “overbought.” I called it “bad life choices.”

These days, I half-expect someone to buy XRP just to tweet, “I’m rich,” and then immediately cash out to buy a used Tesla. Not that I’d judge. I once sold a winning lottery ticket to a guy who said he needed the money for “emergencies.” He later told my mom he’d bought a yacht. I still don’t know which story to believe.

2. The “Surprise!” That Wasn’t

When the SEC dropped its case against Ripple, I assumed XRP would do the financial equivalent of a victory lap. Instead, it dipped 10%. Maybe the market had already priced in the news like I priced in my sister’s wedding gift-$20 and a note that said, “I’ll send more when the stock market crashes.”

Positive developments are only exciting if you’re the one who didn’t see them coming. If you’ve spent three years waiting for ETF approvals, you might as well be waiting for a letter from Santa that says, “Sorry, no presents this year, but I’ll send Bitcoin!” The problem isn’t the news-it’s the expectation that news will ever feel like news again.

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3. The Economy’s Midlife Crisis

The U.S. economy is having a tantrum, and XRP is the toddler in the middle of it. In August 2025, we added 22,000 jobs-about as exciting as a tax audit. July? We lost 13,000. My spouse, who once called me “financially savvy,” now says I should invest in Treasury bills. “They’re safe,” she insists, “like a nap after Thanksgiving dinner.”

When the economy stutters, crypto gets the side-eye. In 2022, XRP lingered below $1 like a rejected proposal. And when Trump’s tariffs dropped like a lead balloon in April 2025, XRP fell 15% in a week. I watched it happen while eating cereal for dinner, which suddenly felt like a very reasonable life choice.

So what’s a crypto owner to do? Watch the economy like a hawk, I suppose. Or, you know, pray that someone invents a stablecoin called “Common Sense.” Until then, XRP’s journey back to $3.84 might be less “rocket ship” and more “rollercoaster designed by a sleep-deprived intern.”

🤷‍♂️

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2025-09-12 20:39