The crypto market is still struggling to recover from recent price crashes, which have seen all leading cryptocurrencies, including XRP, remain in deep red territory.
Following the prolonged crypto market downturn, XRP is seen recording its weakest annual performance since 2023, despite being in just the second month of the year.
Data from crypto analytics platform Cryptorank shows that XRP is down 25.8% year-to-date in 2026. After recently reaching a yearly high of $2.40, XRP has fallen to a low of $1.14 amid the ongoing market volatility.
These negative market conditions projected by XRP reflect sustained selling pressure and a sharp reversal from the strong gains seen in previous years.
XRP to recover gains for 2026?
While it is still the second month of the year, it is quite uncertain if XRP will extend the weak momentum into the rest of the year. However, institutional investors have expressed resilience with their steady XRP ETF flows, providing a slim possibility for the asset to recover its gains before the year runs out.
The data further showed that the first quarter of 2026 alone delivered a -25.9% return, extending the bearish momentum that began in late 2025.
Notably, the massive price crash seen in recent months marks an extremely contradictory pattern from performances seen in 2024, when XRP surged 235.7% annually, and from 2023’s solid 82.5% gain.
Even 2025 saw mild annual losses as the asset closed the year with a slight 11.6% decline following the mix of repeated corrections and periodic rallies seen during the year despite multiple Ripple developments.
While it appears that the weak crypto market momentum began in late 2025, it has extended until 2026 as XRP and other leading cryptocurrencies have witnessed massive price crashes not seen since 2023.
Nonetheless, shorter time frames show that the market downside pressure still remains strong, with XRP showing a decline of 4.64% over the last 24 hours, and 14.9% over seven days.
While the crypto market appears to have kickstarted its bear run, it is quite uncertain if XRP will recover well enough to offset losses suffered so far.
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team