XRP is trading around $1.03 after a 1.24% decline over the past 24 hours, testing a critical psychological threshold. Meanwhile, inflows into XRP ETF products have plummeted by 79% since May, signaling a gradual institutional retreat.
The root cause? The CLARITY Act, a landmark piece of legislation for digital asset regulation in the United States, remains stalled in the Senate. With Congress not resuming until September 14 at the earliest, the market is left without any near-term regulatory catalyst.
Caught between technical pressure on a key support level and persistent legislative uncertainty, XRP is entering a decisive phase. Here is what the data reveals.
The CLARITY Act Is Stalling: Why the Senate Is Blocking Everything
The CLARITY Act has made meaningful procedural progress. The House of Representatives passed it in July 2025 with a vote of 294 to 134, and the Senate Banking Committee approved it 15 to 9 in May 2026. The bill was placed on the Senate calendar on June 1. But since then, nothing.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has chosen to prioritize executive nominations and a foreign sanctions package. To invoke cloture and bypass procedural obstruction, Republicans — who hold 53 seats — need at least 7 additional Democratic votes to reach the 60-vote threshold. That goal is far from guaranteed.
The sticking points are well defined. On one side, major commercial banks are firmly opposed to the provisions on yield-bearing stablecoins, which they view as a direct threat to traditional bank deposits. On the other, several Democratic lawmakers are demanding stricter ethics restrictions that would bar executive branch officials from participating in private crypto ventures — a clause submitted to the White House on July 30. Senator Cynthia Lummis herself has acknowledged that some Republican members remain “genuinely resistant” to passing the bill without further concessions.
The Senate goes into recess from August 10 to September 11. Without a cloture motion filed before that date, the CLARITY Act will have to compete for space in an already packed fall agenda, particularly against debates over federal government funding.
The $1 Support: The Critical Zone Bulls Cannot Afford to Lose
From a technical standpoint, XRP is trading in a fragile configuration. The token is consolidating just above the psychological support at $1.00, a zone that has historically acted as a floor during correction phases. A break below this level would likely trigger cascading liquidations and a sharp spike in downside volatility.
The 79% collapse in XRP ETF inflows since May reflects a gradual withdrawal by institutional investors, who are conditioning their allocations on regulatory clarity enshrined in federal law. Agency-level interpretations — including the treatment of XRP as a commodity — are no longer sufficient to convince asset managers to deploy significant capital. Until Congress codifies these definitions, institutional demand will remain on the sidelines.
Market sentiment reflects this forced wait-and-see stance: no bullish momentum, contracting volumes, and price action oscillating within a tight range between $1.00 and $1.10. If the CLARITY Act fails to advance before the September return, XRP risks a downside break of this range, with the next identifiable technical support sitting around $0.85. Conversely, any concrete legislative progress could trigger a swift breakout above $1.20, an intermediate resistance level being closely watched by traders.
