Ripple will unlock 1,000,000,000 XRP from escrow on February 1, 2026, under its monthly schedule. In January, 70% of the release—700,000,000 XRP—was re-escrowed, limiting circulating supply, while XRP moved from around $1.84 to $1.91 on January 1–2 amid broader catalysts, including Japan's 2026 tax reforms and an XRP ETF.

According to projections attributed to ChatGPT, Bitcoin could trade between $95,000 and $120,000 on February 1, 2026, implying notable upside from the current level near $89,000. The model also outlines a downside scenario toward $75,000–$90,000 and a less likely bullish path as high as $150,000, while flagging near-term uncertainty over whether BTC can hold above $90,000 after a weekly drop of more than 6%.

On Thursday, January 22, XRP's derivatives segment saw a sharp rise in options activity, with daily volume leaping 213% to $9.53 million and open interest edging up to $73.39 million. Over the same period, XRP futures volume reached $6.19 billion, while the spot price traded near $1.92 after briefly rallying 4% toward resistance around $1.97 and $2. Positioning remained tilted long on major platforms, but overall long-short ratios stayed close to neutral, leaving traders watching whether volatility leads to a breakout or continued consolidation.

Ripple’s U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD has been officially listed on Binance, where it will initially trade on Ethereum with XRP Ledger support to follow. Binance is launching XRP/RLUSD and RLUSD/USDT pairs and plans to add RLUSD to its Earn products, while RLUSD’s market cap has recently moved above $1.3 billion amid growing institutional DeFi use.

Between January 13 and January 20, XRP’s market capitalization declined from $132 billion to $117 billion, erasing about $15 billion as its price dropped nearly 7% to $1.92. Mid-term holders are reportedly selling near their cost basis around $2, while the token trades below key technical levels amid softer trading volumes and a broader pullback in the total crypto market.

XRP's price momentum weakened over the past twenty-four hours on January 15 as a key Senate crypto market structure bill was postponed, while its daily trading volume declined 30% and Bitcoin's dominance approached 60%. An AI-based projection tool combining outputs from ChatGPT, Gemini 2.5 Flash, and Claude Sonnet 4 estimates XRP could reach an average of $2.12 by January 31, 2026, implying a modest gain from the current level near $2.06 and slightly above the ten-day simple moving average.

On Wednesday, January 14, XRP advanced after a weak stretch. According to analyst CrediBULL, a completed triple-tap has lifted price to the range top, leaving a choice between a fade back below $1.77 or a defended base targeting "untapped highs." At writing, XRP traded at $2.15 (+4%) as 24-hour volume jumped 76% to $4.65 billion.

On Thursday, January 8, nearly $150 million in leveraged crypto long positions were liquidated within a single hour as Bitcoin slid below $90,000. Data shows $88.23 million in longs were cleared around 7:00 a.m. (UTC) and another $57.02 million at 8:00 a.m. (UTC), contributing to $464.44 million in total liquidations over 24 hours that affected more than 137,000 traders. Bitcoin accounted for $66.53 million in wiped positions versus $33.78 million for Ethereum, while the overall crypto market value fell from $3.21 trillion to $3.09 trillion.

Bitcoin (BTC) entered 2025 on relatively solid footing, but according to the provided data it struggled through the first quarter, then surged to fresh all‑time highs above $126,000 in October before reversing sharply in Q4. With BTC trading at $92,640 on January 5, 2026, down 5.82% year-over-year from $98,000 on January 5, 2025, a hypothetical $1,000 investment at the start of 2025 would now be worth between roughly $945 and $975 depending on the exact entry date.