On Wednesday, April 2, dubbed Liberation Day, US President Trump announced punitive tariffs that rattled risk assets. XRP ranked among the worst-performing top ten cryptos, as markets feared adverse economic effects and the potential for retaliatory tariffs on US goods.
The crypto market’s reaction mirrored traditional asset classes, with Dow Futures tumbling by a whopping 1,017 points. Meanwhile, the flight to safety drove gold to a record high of $3,168.
Amid the tariff clamor, today’s SEC Closed Meeting will draw intense focus. Investors await a possible formal withdrawal of the SEC’s appeal against the Programmatic Sales of XRP ruling. Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda, Crypto Task Force Head Hester Peirce, and Commissioner Carolin Crenshaw must vote on the matter, with the Republicans holding a 2-1 majority.
An appeal withdrawal could lead Ripple to drop its cross-appeal, paving the way for a settlement request to Judge Analisa Torres that could:
The SEC’s official appeal withdrawal would set the stage for a US XRP-spot ETF market. A settlement would enable Ripple to scale its on-demand liquidity (ODL) and XRP Ledger services across the US, free from litigation risks.
On Wednesday, April 2, XRP slid 5.42%, reversing Tuesday’s 2.35% gain, to close at $2.0230. The broader market dropped 3.49% to a total crypto market cap of $2.61 trillion.
After Wednesday’s tariff announcements, several key factors will likely influence XRP’s near-term trajectory:
Explore our XRP forecast dashboard here.
XRP’s losses tracked bitcoin (BTC), which faced intense selling pressure after Trump’s tariff announcements. However, BTC-spot ETF inflows helped absorb some retail outflows, underscoring the importance of sticky institutional money.
Farside Investors reported the following April 2 flows:
Excluding flows from BlackRock’s (BLK) iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), net inflows totaled $334 million on April 2, reversing April 1’s $157.8 million outflows. Notably, Wednesday’s inflows ended a three-day outflow streak.
However, the rebound in flows may be temporary. The Nasdaq 100 Futures plunged 759 points in after-hours trading in reaction to Trump’s tariffs.
On April 2, BTC slid by 3.07%, partially reversing Tuesday’s 3.20% to close at $82,536.
Santiment commented on the crypto market’s reaction to Trump’s tariffs:
“Trump’s reciprocal tariffs aim to increase government revenue & pressure fairer global trade. But trade war fears have led to immediate crypto volatility.”
On crypto’s role as digital gold, Santiment added:
“The premise of crypto being the alternative ‘digital gold’ has so far proven to be vastly overstated. Instead, Bitcoin has mostly mirrored the S&P 500 throughout 2025 so far, with very temporary cases of decoupling. And as for altcoins, most have fared far worse than BTC.”
However, regarding potential outcomes, Santiment stated:
“So how crypto markets get impacted will likely depend on the world’s reaction now that the US has made their rumored tariffs official. If other countries call Trump’s bluff and start a trade war, there will undoubtedly be some long-term pain seen across both stock and crypto markets. But if they cave and begin to lower their own tariffs toward the US as a gesture to make imports/exports more affordable across the world, this could have amazing bullish consequences.”
BTC potential price scenarios include:
Key themes influencing the crypto market direction include:
Recent SEC developments may reduce immediate uncertainty. However, long-term investor confidence depends on regulatory clarity. See what analysts say cryptos need to hit record highs.
With over 28 years of experience in the financial industry, Bob has worked with various global rating agencies and multinational banks. Currently he is covering currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes and global equities, focusing mostly on European and Asian markets.