XRP traded near $1.03 on Aug. 7, down about 2.2% over 24 hours and underperforming Bitcoin and Ether as selling pressure persisted and a near-term U.S. regulatory catalyst faded. The token’s market capitalization held near $64.2 billion, with trading volume around $1.44 billion and circulating supply near 62.53 billion tokens. Over seven days, XRP was down 5.7%, and over 30 days it had fallen 6.7%. Market positioning pointed to a weaker tone. CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha said Binance XRP open interest rose from about $180 million on Aug. 4 to $195 million on Aug. 7, while perpetual cumulative volume delta moved from roughly negative $292 million to negative $363 million. That mix can signal fresh leveraged sell-side positioning. Estimated spot CVD (cumulative volume delta, a measure of aggressive buying versus selling) across centralized exchanges fell more than 52%, from around $235 million to $112 million, indicating a sharp loss of aggressive buying momentum. Separate CryptoQuant data showed whales accounted for 81% of Binance XRP outflows on Aug. 3, compared with 72% across centralized exchanges overall, though that metric tracks outflow share rather than whether tokens were ultimately accumulated, sold or moved into custody. The political backdrop also shifted. The U.S. Senate delayed consideration of the CLARITY Act, a market-structure bill that could help define whether digital assets fall under SEC (U.S. securities regulator) or CFTC (U.S. derivatives regulator) oversight. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the bill would be queued when lawmakers return in September. The official Senate calendar lists Aug. 10 through Sept. 11 as a state work period, with senators scheduled to return Sept. 14. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, but leadership generally needs 60 votes to invoke cloture and overcome a filibuster, leaving Democratic support important as ethics provisions, law-enforcement concerns and other disputes remain unresolved. Technically, XRP traded between roughly $1.01 and $1.06 over the previous 24 hours, leaving the psychological $1 level as immediate support. The daily chart stayed broadly bearish after a prolonged slide from above $2.50. A recovery through $1.10 to $1.15 would be needed to improve the short-term structure. The Aroon Oscillator at -100 and BBTrend near -1.36 both reinforced a bearish bias, while weekly Stochastic RSI readings near 42.6 and 44.7 remained neutral rather than oversold. Macro data may now become the nearer-term driver. The Federal Reserve kept its target range at 3.50% to 3.75% on July 29 in a 9-3 vote, with Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari and Lorie Logan dissenting in favor of a 25-basis-point increase. The next immediate test is the July employment report from the BLS (U.S. labor statistics agency), due Aug. 7 at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by July CPI on Aug. 12. Strong jobs data or persistent inflation could reinforce expectations for restrictive policy, while softer readings could ease pressure on risk assets. A widely circulated projection from CryptoBull that XRP could reach "$27 by the end of October 2026" remained highly speculative, with an ascending-channel projection also pointing toward $7 before $27 but requiring a sustained breakout above long-term resistance and stronger volume.