This is not just Ripple, it is all the market that is being affected, there are some people that are called market makers, they move the market in which direction that suit them
The market makers are no other than the big banks and since Ripple is coin they threw their weight behind, won't be any surprise to fine all those manipulations akin with fiat money playing out especially with Ripple.
another thing that is likely going to affect most of these Altcoins especial tokens on Ethereum is that there is no metrics to back up their prices
I see your point. All the tokens hinged on the Ethereum network can be seen to liken Ethereum to the European Union - a handful of strong states amidst many not too strong states and that can be a drag to those stronger states.
Bitcoin is being back up by the amount of energy one need to mine a coin but not for most of these projects
Not literally, but nevertheless it's a good bargain for Bitcoin.