XRP holds $1.40 floor as CLARITY Act vote looms Sept. 15

XRP's pullback from $1.66 to $1.42 tests the $1.40 floor as traders weigh the Sept. 15 CLARITY Act vote.

XRP fell 5.5% to $1.42 after rejection near $1.66, testing the $1.40 floor ahead of the Sept. 15 CLARITY Act vote.

XRP spot ETFs took in $28.14 million in net inflows on Aug. 26, the strongest single day in more than seven months, according to Coinpedia. The Bitwise XRP ETF (NYSE:XRP) traded at $15.64 as of 12:13 p.m. ET on Aug. 28, down 4.1% from a prior close of $16.31.

The pullback is expected to unfold in three legs — an initial decline, a bounce, then a final leg down — rather than a straight line, according to technical analysis cited by Coinpedia. Support sits at $1.38, with $1.29 and $1.21 as intermediate levels and $1.10 the lower boundary of the broader $1.10–$1.38 zone. Over $20 million in leveraged long positions were liquidated alongside the move, according to Coinglass data.

Holding the $1.10–$1.38 zone keeps recovery targets at $1.66, $1.93 and $2.25 intact. A break below $1.10 opens a path toward the $0.985–$0.486 long-term support. The Sept. 15 Senate vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act requires 60 votes to advance the bill, a procedural test that will determine whether the regulatory clarity materializes.

The $28 Million Inflow Is Weaker Than It Sounds

$28.14 million is modest in ETF terms; calling it a seven-month high describes how quiet the prior seven months were, not how large the session was. Total XRP ETF inflows near $1.62 billion since launch provide the cumulative context. ETF flow data does not identify the buyer — retail, advisor or institution buy the same shares — so treating a positive inflow as institutional demand is a claim the data cannot support. Most XRP price discovery still happens inside spot order books on Binance, Coinbase and Upbit.

CLARITY Act Vote Tests the Regulatory Overhang

Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633 before the August recess; the motion ripens Sept. 15. Supporters need 60 votes to overcome the procedural hurdle. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said supporters could "hopefully get more than 60 votes come Sept. 15," while Vice President JD Vance said he "feels good" about its prospects. Even a successful vote only begins the next phase — the Senate would still debate amendments, and any text differing from the House-passed version must be reconciled before reaching the president's desk.

Long-Term Forecasts Return to Focus

Standard Chartered analyst Geoffrey Kendrick's roadmap places XRP at $2.80 in 2026, $7 in 2027, $12.60 in 2028, $19.60 in 2029 and $28 by 2030. Bitwise's maximum case for 2030 is $29.32, though its bear case is $0.13 — a reminder that the headline figure is the top of a scenario model, not a base-case forecast. From roughly $1.40, XRP would need to rise about 20-fold to reach $29.32, implying a market capitalization above $1.8 trillion on a circulating supply of more than 62 billion tokens.

The CLARITY Act would remove a regulatory barrier, not eliminate crypto risk. XRP's path toward $28 or $29 depends on execution — extraordinary growth in demand for payments, tokenization and settlement — not simply a procedural vote in Washington. For now, the $1.40 floor and the Sept. 15 vote set the near-term direction.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.