Grayscale CEO sells GXRP stake as XRP slides 5% on Fed, Clarity fears

XRP fell 5% to $1.05 after Grayscale CEO Peter Mintzberg sold holdings in the GXRP ETF, as Fed rate hike bets and Clarity Act delays compounded selling pressure on the token.

"CEO stock sales in a product the firm manages sends a negative signal about near-term conviction in the asset," said Nina Volkov, crypto markets analyst at Edgen. "Combined with the Fed's hawkish tilt and the Senate shelving the Clarity Act, the macro and regulatory setup for XRP is as unfavorable as it has been all year."

XRP traded at $1.05 as of 14:30 UTC, down 5% in the past 24 hours, with trading volume surging 74% as holders moved to sell, according to CoinGecko. The token's market cap stood at roughly $65 billion. The broader crypto market also weakened, with Bitcoin falling 3% to $63,320 and total futures open interest dropping 2% to $47.46 billion across exchanges, Coinglass data shows.

The Clarity Act, which would codify XRP's commodity classification into law, was shelved by the Senate on Monday to prioritize a Russia sanctions bill and federal nominations. The chamber's August recess begins Aug. 7, leaving a narrow window for passage this year. Without it, Standard Chartered's conditional $8 XRP price target — contingent on full Senate passage and $4 billion to $8 billion in new ETF inflows — remains theoretical, according to the bank's July research note.

Technicals Point to Further Downside

XRP's technical indicators are almost uniformly bearish. The token's 50-day exponential moving average traded below its 200-day EMA in a death cross formation, while the Relative Strength Index stood at 40.9 — in bearish territory but not yet oversold. The Average Directional Index, at 11.2, indicated a trendless market prone to false breakouts, according to TradingView data. Below $1.05, the next Fibonacci support sits at $1.0125, followed by $0.9711.

The Federal Reserve's two-day FOMC meeting began Tuesday, with Chair Kevin Warsh expected to hold rates at 3.50% to 3.75%. But growing dissents within the committee could strengthen expectations for a September move. The CME FedWatch Tool shows a 56% probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike in September, up from 38% last week. The US dollar index held near 101.6, while the 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.622% after hitting an 18-month high last week, adding pressure on risk assets including cryptocurrencies.

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