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XRP appeared to be trading at $126 during a CNBC broadcast Tuesday, more than 60 times its actual price after producers accidentally displayed Solana’s price in the XRP ticker, triggering a wave of speculation among crypto traders.
During a Jan. 28 broadcast of CNBC’s “Crypto World” segment, XRP was incorrectly shown trading at $126.01, a figure more than 60 times its actual market value at the time, owing to a data feed error that mistakenly slotted Solana’s spot price into the XRP ticker. The anomalous print instantly lit up trader forums and social feeds, driving renewed chatter about so‑called “ghost prints” and speculative fair‑value theories.
“It’s obviously a technical malfunction, not some secret valuation popping through,” said market data analyst Lara Chen of CryptoMetrics Research. “But in the world of digital assets, even glitches can influence sentiment.”
The XRP price glitch is hardly the first time such a misprint has captivated crypto traders. Similar anomalies stretch back years — from trading platforms showing nonsensical prices like $9,864 in May 2020 to brief ultra‑low misprints under $0.01 on futures exchanges — incidents that are now part of community lore.
Despite these recurring quirks, industry veterans stress that such “ghost prints” reflect feed bugs, not hidden value. “A ticker error doesn’t rewrite fundamentals,” said Carlos Rivera, senior editor at MarketWatch Crypto. “But it does remind everyone how fragile real‑time pricing can be.”
CNBC later clarified that the $126.01 listing resulted from the network’s producers inadvertently pulling in Solana’s then‑spot price — roughly in that range — into the XRP ticker field. Rather than representing any shift in XRP’s market price, the figure was purely a display artifact.
At the same time, the broader crypto market remained in a familiar dynamic on Jan. 28: Bitcoin trading firmly above $80,000, Ethereum near the $3,000 mark, and XRP itself continuing to hold near the $1.90–$2.00 range seen in recent weeks, shaped by supply and demand fundamentals rather than stray ticker misprints.
Odd as they are, high‑profile data feed errors like the XRP price glitch inevitably steer conversations back toward fundamental drivers — particularly spot XRP ETF flows, which remain among the most consequential developments for the token’s actual market direction.
Since mid‑November 2025, U.S.‑listed spot XRP ETFs have logged an unprecedented streak of net inflows, with cumulative assets under management approaching or exceeding $1 billion across several products. These flows exhibit remarkable persistence, with multiple sources reporting 30 consecutive trading days of net inflows and total assets around the billion‑dollar mark.
“Seeing consistent demand from regulated ETF products is fundamentally different from retail speculation,” said Nate Geraci, ETF strategist and president of The ETF Store. “These aren’t quick trades — they’re portfolio allocations.”
Indeed, inflows appear to continue despite broader market caution. Where Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have faced intermittent outflows, XRP ETF products have held steady, suggesting a structural component of buying rather than short‑term momentum.
That institutional interest — not ticker mishaps — is what has the broader market watching XRP’s true price action. Even though the token languishes below key psychological levels such as $2.00, many analysts link its medium‑term prospects to continued ETF adoption and regulatory clarity.
Some forecasters, drawing on trend analysis and ETF flow data, suggest that a sustained institutional bid could push XRP toward multi‑dollar levels through 2026. Others caution that macro conditions and crypto risk sentiment still weigh heavily on performance.
Despite that, exaggerated prints like the XRP price glitch continue to fuel mythmaking. Social chatter lit up with classic memes and theories in the hours after the broadcast, with some traders playfully asking, “Wen $126?”, even as market data showed the token trading at realistic prices in the low‑dollar range.
“Be careful about reading too much into a technical error,” said Lindsey Matthews, crypto economist at Genesis Analytics. “Market psychology is powerful, but real discovery is shaped by demand, utility, and capital flows, not transient ticker frames.”
For derivative desks and algorithmic traders, ghost prints are generally ignored as “noise”; engines filter them out instantly. But for retail traders, especially newcomers, such a striking headline can be unsettling — or, contrarily, encouraging in a way that feeds FOMO.
Still, exchanges and data aggregators work continuously to improve feed resilience, partly to avoid unwarranted moves triggered by erroneous pricing. “Accuracy matters,” said Rohan Patel, head of market data at ChainLink Labs. “Even a short blip like this can distort on‑chain queries and third‑party interfaces if unchecked.”
The XRP price glitch served as a reminder of the quirks inherent in digital markets — and of the difference between narrative and actual trading realities. While a TV ticker can briefly show triple‑digit figures, the true forces shaping XRP’s trajectory are far more grounded: regulated liquidity, institutional demand via ETFs, and market sentiment driven by macro conditions and regulatory developments.
In the end, the $126 misprint is likely to enter the annals of crypto oddities amusing, eyebrow‑raising, and a great conversation starter — but not a pivot point for valuation.
“Errors aren’t forecasts,” Chen said. “But they do get people talking and that’s crypto for you.”
