XRP traders faced heavy losses on January 19 after a sharp market pullback linked to renewed U.S.–EU trade tensions following President Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland. The selloff triggered over $5 million in XRP long liquidations, with Binance accounting for more than $1 million, as leveraged traders were caught off guard amid a broader risk-off move in crypto.
The spike in volatility followed reports that European capitals were considering tariffs of up to €93B (~$108B) on U.S. goods in response to Trump’s Greenland remarks. The news came just days after the U.S. confirmed new tariffs on several European countries starting February 1.
Crypto markets reacted quickly: Bitcoin dropped from above $95,000 to below $93,000 within hours, wiping out nearly $500 million in leveraged longs in just an hour. XRP mirrored the market’s fall, amplifying losses for leveraged traders.
At the time of writing, XRP trades around $2.00, down roughly 5% in 24 hours and about 8% over the past two weeks. The token remains modestly higher than last month, up ~2%, and has gained nearly 39% over the past year. Despite recent inflows of $57 million into spot XRP ETFs, price strength has been limited, leaving XRP vulnerable to macro-driven risk-off moves.
Technical analysts had already flagged weakening momentum, noting XRP was trading in a descending channel with buyers showing interest near $2.00 but failing to reclaim higher resistance. The January 18–19 selloff reinforced caution, as macro headlines once again outweighed crypto-specific positives.
