What Is the Best Crypto to Buy Before the Fed Decides on September 16: XRP or Solana?

XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) and Solana (CRYPTO:SOL) have both climbed more than 30% over the past month, and the two coins now face a defining week.  

The Federal Reserve announces its next rate decision on September 16, a day after the Senate holds a cloture vote on the CLARITY Act that would decide XRP’s regulatory status for years to come. 

Each coin’s fate looks different once shared market strength is set aside, so we argue for XRP first, then Solana, before settling on a verdict.

Why XRP Could Be the Best Crypto to Buy Before the Fed Decides on September 16?

XRP’s argument rests on a Senate vote, ETF demand, and a network upgrade. Each carries its own timeline, and together they give XRP more near-term catalysts than most large-cap tokens currently have on the calendar.

The CLARITY Act’s September 15 Vote

The Senate holds a cloture vote on the CLARITY Act on September 15, the day before the Fed’s decision, and the bill needs seven Democratic senators to cross party lines to reach 60 votes. One dispute holding up those votes centers on ethics language. 

Senators Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, Chris Van Hollen and Elizabeth Warren have objected that the current draft places enforcement solely with the Department of Justice and does nothing to stop President Trump from continuing to profit from his own crypto holdings, which he disclosed at more than $1.2 billion last year. 

Galaxy Research’s odds of passage in 2026 have fallen from 60% in July to just 10% as of this month, a sharp drop that reflects the shrinking Senate calendar as much as the unresolved ethics fight itself. 

A successful cloture vote would not pass the bill outright, but it would clear the biggest procedural hurdle standing between XRP and a permanent commodity classification.

Record XRP ETF Inflows

XRP’s spot ETFs pulled in $110.49 million during the week of August 24, their strongest weekly total in nine months, according to SoSoValue data. Bitwise’s XRP fund led that week with $59.9 million, followed by Franklin Templeton’s XRPZ at $28.7 million. 

Cumulative net inflows reached $1.66 billion by August 28 and climbed to $1.70 billion by September 9, while total net assets stood at $1.51 billion.

That inflow pace pushed XRP to roughly $1.66 in August before it pulled back toward $1.40, showing that institutional demand has remained strong even as the market watches the Senate calendar.

A Ledger Upgrade Set for September 11

The XRP Ledger’s fixCleanup3_3_0 upgrade has reached 82.86% validator consensus, above the 80% threshold needed to begin a two-week activation window, with activation possible as soon as September 11. 

The upgrade itself is a maintenance change rather than a headline feature, but its timing places a concrete technical milestone directly between the ETF inflow data and the Senate vote, adding a third data point to a week already dense with XRP-specific news.

Why Solana Could Be the Best Crypto to Buy Before the Fed Decides on September 16?

Solana’s argument rests on institutional demand and network usage, both of which have built steadily since last October, plus a technical upgrade still ahead.

ETF Inflows Keep Climbing

Solana’s ETF demand strengthened in late August and carried into early September. The funds recorded inflows on every trading day from August 24 through September 1, per SoSoValue data, adding about $72.94 million across those seven sessions. Cumulative net inflows have reached $1.36 billion, while total net assets stood at about $1.44 billion.

That flow data matters because it shows investors are still putting money into Solana ETFs, even as individual sessions move in both directions. The recent inflows therefore strengthen the case that ETF demand is becoming an important part of Solana’s market structure and could continue regardless of the Fed’s decision on September 16th.

The Alpenglow Upgrade

Solana’s Alpenglow upgrade would cut transaction finality to 150 milliseconds, a change developers frame as a meaningful step toward institutional-grade settlement speed. 

The upgrade won’t launch until October 2026, so it still functions as a catalyst, and its arrival alongside continued ETF inflows could extend the network’s current momentum post the Fed’s decision on September 16th.

Which Coin Are We Favoring?

We favor Solana because its catalysts don’t depend on seven senators changing position in a single vote, and its ETF and staking data show demand that has already cleared a full market cycle. XRP’s ETF inflows and ledger upgrade are real, but the CLARITY Act carries far more weight in XRP’s setup than any single catalyst carries in Solana’s, and Galaxy Research’s own 10% odds make that vote the biggest single risk facing either coin this month.

Our view would change quickly if the Senate surprises the market on September 15. A successful cloture vote would remove years of regulatory overhang from XRP in a single session, something no Solana catalyst can replicate on a comparable timeline, and it could push XRP past Solana’s near-term gains even if the odds against it remain long. 

Our view would also shift if Solana’s ETF inflows reverse or its stablecoin and DEX-volume share erodes, since that data forms the core of its current advantage rather than a one-time event. Both coins remain exposed to the Fed’s decision on September 16th, which could tighten conditions for both regardless of which catalyst plays out first.

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