XRP or Ethereum: Which Could Fall When the Fed Hikes?

Quick Read

• XRP has fallen 9.4% today versus a 2.9% decline for Ethereum, extending XRP's steeper three-week slide ahead of the Fed's decision.

• XRP is down roughly 30% in 2026, compared with Ethereum's 18% decline, showing a wider performance gap despite the same rate environment.

• XRP enters the Fed decision with heavier selling pressure across price and on-chain data, leaving it with more downside risk than Ethereum if the Fed hikes.

XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) has fallen 9.4% in today's session, more than three times Ethereum's (CRYPTO:ETH) 2.9% decline, as traders prepare for a possible 25-basis-point Fed rate hike this afternoon. Both tokens have been under pressure for the past three weeks, but XRP's decline has been sharper. That makes today's move more significant, especially if the Fed delivers the expected rate increase.

With XRP already falling faster than Ethereum ahead of the decision, could XRP fall more when the Fed hikes, or could Ethereum drop more?

How Have XRP and Ethereum Reacted to Past Fed Hikes?

The Fed's last hiking cycle ran from March 2022 through July 2023, and both XRP and Ethereum fell sharply during that stretch alongside the broader risk-asset market, as investors moved into Treasury yields that no longer required tolerating crypto's volatility. Neither token has faced a hike since, which makes today's decision the clearest test of each coin's rate sensitivity in years.