XRP Drops to $1.188 YTD Low; $14M in Long Liquidations

On June 3, XRP dropped to $1.188, its lowest price so far this year, before recovering to trade just under $1.22 by mid-afternoon. By 3 p.m. EST the token’s market capitalization was about $75.3 billion.

The move left XRP down about 9% over the prior seven days and roughly 34% year to date. Thirty-day losses widened to about 13%. On Jan. 6, XRP traded at roughly twice the June low.

Price action on Wednesday triggered approximately $14.06 million in long liquidations across derivatives markets. Short liquidations totaled roughly $1.07 million. Long liquidations occur when leveraged long positions are forcibly closed as prices fall, which removes buying pressure and can increase volatility.

Traders and market participants pointed to intensifying military tensions between U.S. Navy forces and Iranian units as a factor in the broader sell-off. Bitcoin also fell to its weakest levels since early February on the same day, contributing to pressure across major tokens and on leveraged positions.

The session followed a surprise disclosure from Strategy that it sold 32 bitcoins to fund dividend payments to preferred stockholders. Strategy’s executive chairman, Michael Saylor, posted on X that the company expected to resume bitcoin purchases. Some observers warned that the sale and any future liquidations to meet payouts could affect perceptions of the company as a long-term bitcoin treasury holder.

Separately, Mastercard announced it will add support for settlement using Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin. That announcement did not halt the intraday decline in XRP prices.

Market participants cautioned that further forced selling by large holders or firms needing cash could lead to additional price swings in cryptocurrency markets.