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Justin Bons, founder of Cyber Capital, calls selling XRP to retail investors decentralized outright fraud. His criticism arrives as Evernorth prepares its Nasdaq debut.

The clash pits Bons against David Schwartz, and it tests how decentralized the XRP Ledger really is.

What Makes a Blockchain Truly Decentralized?Decentralization means no single party controls participation, governance, or transaction rules. The XRP debate centers on whether validator lists give a small group real control.

Bons criticized the decision, arguing that undisclosed software changes create unnecessary security concerns for network participants and investors. The amendment could activate on October 9 if validators give enough support under the network’s voting requirements.

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Selling XRP to retail as "decentralized" is straight-up fraud! 🚩

XRP has been running closed-source code for the last two weeks

Tomorrow, this code becomes mandatory & anyone who disagrees will get kicked off the chain!

A permissioned node list means validators must obey: 🧵… pic.twitter.com/3nIcRiid8S

— Justin Bons (@Justin_Bons) October 8, 2026 The core criticism targets consensus. Justin Bons says XRP operates as Proof of Authority. In that model, power rests in permissioned validator lists published by Ripple and the XRP Ledger Foundation. He calls the people who control those lists kingmakers.

“That is the consequence of putting our faith in a centralized system. Eventually, that power will be abused, with dire consequences. As power corrupts & absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Bons noted.

David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO Emeritus and an original architect of the ledger, rejects that view. He has previously said that anyone can run a node or validator. The Unique Node List, he argued, grants no real governance control.

Honest nodes enforce the rules, Schwartz says, and software choice settles disputes, as on other networks. He has argued that the ledger resists censorship more effectively than Bitcoin or Ethereum in practice.

Anyone can run an XRPL node, hub, validator, history server, or anything else they want.

— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) June 17, 2026 Why Does the Evernorth Debut Matter Now?The timing has drawn attention. Evernorth, the XRP treasury company backed by Ripple, expects to close its merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II. Its Nasdaq debut under XRPN is scheduled for Monday, October 12.

If the listing proceeds, Evernorth would become the largest public pure-play XRP vehicle. It holds about 473 million tokens, with backing from Ripple, Pantera, Kraken, and other investors.

Critics say the launch reinforces concerns about centralization and transparency. Supporters counter that the ledger remains public and the vehicle offers only regulated exposure to XRP.

Evernorth’s launch also tests whether investors separate the ledger from the company holding the tokens. That distinction will shape how the market reads the debut.

On Monday, the debate over whether XRP is truly decentralized will return to the center of the market conversation. Traders will watch the first session for signs of demand.

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XRP has entered a correction alongside the broader crypto market, but retail activity has increased across exchanges as whale dominance declines. 

Notably, XRP fell from a local high of $1.52 on Oct. 6 to around $1.39 at press time. Several factors have contributed to the decline, including broader market selling, higher US Treasury yields, and leveraged liquidations. 

The US 30-year Treasury yield climbed toward 5.72% on Oct. 7, reaching a level not seen in about 24 years. This rise in yields has weighed on risk assets, and XRP has also felt the impact.

XRP Retail Activity Increases as Whale Dominance Falls Amid the decline in XRP’s price, exchange data shows a change in investor activity. Specifically, retail participation has increased across centralized exchanges, while the share of activity linked to larger holders has declined.

The main measure in this data is the Whale vs. Retail Spread (%). The metric assesses the difference between XRP exchange outflow activity from large holders and that from retail investors. 

A falling spread does not necessarily mean whales are selling. What it does show is that the difference between whale and retail activity is becoming smaller.

Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 8, 2026, the All CEX Whale vs. Retail Spread fell from 64% to 46.7%. This represents a decline of 17.3 percentage points, or roughly 27% in eight days.

XRP Whale Vs Retail Spread | Source: CryptoQuant The sudden drop shows that retail investors have become a much larger part of XRP’s exchange outflow activity over the past week. This is important because it has happened while XRP’s price has dropped lower.

Binance Shows a Slower Change While Binance has followed the same general trend, the change has been less pronounced. Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 8, 2026, the Binance Whale vs. Retail Spread fell from 68% to 54.9%.

This marks a decline of 13.1 percentage points, or about 19.3%. While the drop is worth noting, it is smaller than the decline recorded across all centralized exchanges.

Also, at 54.9%, Binance’s current reading remains 8.2 percentage points above the 46.7% reading for all centralized exchanges.

This suggests that whale activity still has a stronger influence on Binance than it does across the wider exchange market. However, both readings have moved lower, confirming that retail activity has gained ground in both cases.

In addition, Binance’s XRP reserves provide further evidence of continued activity from large holders. The exchange’s XRP reserves fell from 2.704 billion XRP to 2.631 billion XRP between Sept. 26 and Oct. 4. Interestingly, whale-sized outflows drove much of this decline during the period. 

XRP RSI Reaches Deeply Oversold Levels The recent price decline has also pushed XRP’s technical indicators toward extreme levels. According to a recent report from The Crypto Basic, the 4-hour XRP Relative Strength Index (RSI) has reached levels not seen since XRP traded at $1.05.

Similar oversold conditions can create room for a short-term rebound, but they do not guarantee one. Overall, the broader market remains under pressure, while higher Treasury yields and other macroeconomic factors could continue to limit demand for risk assets.

The gap between whale and retail activity in $XRP has narrowed sharply over the past week, coinciding with a period of heightened market volatility that pushed XRP to its lowest price in more than a month.

Significant fall in whale activityNew data from blockchain analytics provider CryptoQuant revealed a marked decrease in XRP whale dominance among centralized exchanges over the last day. Whale dominance refers to the share of large holders, or “whales,” participating in trading and exchange activity compared to smaller, retail traders.

Between September 30 and October 8, the whale-retail spread across all centralized exchanges fell from 64% to 46.7%. This represents a contraction of 17.3 percentage points—a decline of about 27% within just over a week.

This reduction indicates that large XRP holders have become less active in trading on exchanges, while retail traders have stepped up their participation in the same period.

While large holders have scaled back their trading engagement, this shift does not necessarily imply widespread selling. Instead, it reflects a period of dormancy among whales, with little exchange activity recorded above typical retail volumes.

The whale-retail spread is commonly used to gauge the relative activity of major market participants compared to smaller investors, which can offer insights into potential changes in market sentiment or liquidity.

Mini dictionary: CryptoQuant is a blockchain analytics firm that offers real-time on-chain and market data to support cryptocurrency traders and investors in monitoring asset flows and network activity.

Notable impact on BinanceThe slowdown in whale activity has been particularly evident on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. According to the same data, the whale-retail spread on Binance alone dropped from 68% to 54.9% over the eight-day period.

This decline amounts to a 13.1 percentage-point decrease, or a 19.3% fall in relative whale activity on Binance, suggesting that large holders are taking a more cautious or inactive stance during recent market fluctuations.

ExchangeSept 30 Whale-Retail SpreadOct 8 Whale-Retail SpreadChange (points)All Exchanges64.0%46.7%-17.3Binance68.0%54.9%-13.1As retail participation rises and whale influence on trading volumes diminishes, some analysts have pointed to potential shifts in market momentum and liquidity dynamics for XRP in the short term.

Large holders appear to be stepping back, allowing retail investors a greater share of activity in the XRP market, especially on leading platforms like Binance.

Despite the decline in whale trading, there is no clear indication that these major holders are actively selling. Instead, the bulk of on-chain metrics suggest a pause in their usual trading behavior, which may reflect uncertainty or a wait-and-see approach amid ongoing price swings.

David Schwartz, the influential architect behind XRP Ledger and a founding figure at Ripple, is set to return to the main stage at this year’s Ripple Swell 2026 conference in New York. The event, beginning on October 27 at The Shed cultural center, will mark Schwartz’s first public appearance since transitioning from Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer to his new role as CTO Emeritus and board member.

Schwartz’s keynote and leadership shiftSchwartz’s transition to the board of directors represented a step away from daily executive responsibilities. Nonetheless, his forthcoming keynote is drawing attention from both the crypto community and institutional partners, many of whom had not anticipated such a swift return to public thought leadership.

His participation underscores the strategic importance Ripple places on technological innovation within the XRP ecosystem. Schwartz is expected to focus on a critical question: whether the XRP Ledger, originally designed as an efficient, decentralized payment protocol, can compete with current market alternatives in speed, scalability, and security.

Schwartz returns to center stage to address the pressing question of whether XRPL can stand out as a leading payments network in today’s competitive landscape, following his shift to board-level oversight.

The conference’s agenda will reflect both continuity and change within Ripple’s leadership. Key stakeholders will observe how Schwartz’s vision as CTO Emeritus could shape Ripple’s next phase of blockchain development.

Swell 2026 speaker lineup and new partnershipsThe Swell 2026 conference introduces a new format by merging Ripple’s investor-focused Swell forum with the engineering event Apex and the academic partnership platform UBRI Connect. This convergence aims to foster collaboration among financial professionals, blockchain engineers, and university researchers, with attendance expected to reach 1,500 participants.

Speakers will include former NYSE President Tom Farley, BNY’s Head of Global Markets Laide Majiyagbe, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Matt Damon, known for his philanthropic work with Water.org, will join to outline how his foundation plans to leverage RLUSD, Ripple’s new dollar-pegged stablecoin, for microfinance operations in Asia and Africa.

Another highlight is the October 28 fireside chat titled “Building What’s Next for XRPL,” featuring Schwartz and Ayo Akinyele, RippleX’s head of engineering. Akinyele brings expertise in applied cryptography, private zk-transfers, and AI infrastructure, setting the stage for deep technical discussion.

Mini dictionary: RLUSD, a stablecoin designed by Ripple and pegged to the US dollar, is intended to support seamless, low-volatility transactions for businesses and development projects requiring stable value transfer across borders.

XRP performance and investor expectationsThe conference arrives at a pivotal time for Ripple, as XRP closed the third quarter with a 46% gain, trading at approximately $1.53 and reaching a market capitalization near $97 billion. This robust rally has heightened market expectations for concrete advancements, especially regarding the integration of financial markets onto XRPL’s blockchain infrastructure.

MetricQ3 2026XRP Price$1.53Market Cap$97 billionQ3 Price Growth46%Developers and institutional users are seeking assurances from Schwartz that the XRP Ledger’s architecture can support fully operational financial markets and meet the demands of a changing digital economy.

Many investors now expect actionable updates and a clear roadmap from Ripple’s top technical minds as the company pushes for greater adoption of its blockchain platform.

With its expanded lineup and renewed engineering focus, Swell 2026 is positioning Ripple to further its ambitions in blockchain-powered finance while affirming its commitment to technological leadership in the crypto sector.

XRP recently completed a key technical formation, prompting renewed analysis of its price outlook after a sharp drop. Crypto analyst Dark Defender, known for closely tracking XRP’s price action, reported that the token has exited a symmetrical triangle to the downside but stated that higher targets remain in play if crucial levels hold.

XRP’s slide from the triangle patternAccording to Dark Defender, XRP had been consolidating within a symmetrical triangle structure on the daily chart. This pattern was outlined by two converging trendlines, connecting the peak of wave (1) near $1.70 in August and the trough of wave (2) around $1.29 in September. The price remained inside the triangle for several weeks before breaking downward.

The recent breakout saw XRP decline by $0.08, a move the analyst described as a normal part of market structure. Emphasizing that his longer-term targets remain unchanged, Dark Defender urged followers not to be alarmed by this retracement.

Dark Defender observed that the third wave setup will remain valid as long as XRP closes above $1.5692. He suggested that the path to his upside targets relies on the token regaining this threshold.

Key support and resistance levelsHe highlighted $1.5692 as a pivotal level, referencing its role as the 85.40% Fibonacci retracement. The analyst advised that a daily close above this point would signal a resumption of the bullish count. Should the price falter, buyers may look to defend support at $1.4445 and $1.3798, which correspond to the 70.20% and 61.80% Fibonacci retracement levels, respectively. Both sit below the current price of $1.4164.

Further downside could see XRP reaching $1.2939, the location of the 50% Fibonacci retracement, although Dark Defender did not designate this as a primary support level.

LevelPriceFibonacci RatioResistance$1.569285.40%Support 1$1.444570.20%Support 2$1.379861.80%Deeper Pullback$1.293950.00%Targets for potential reboundUpside objectives remain unchanged for Dark Defender. The analyst identified $1.8815 as the first target, corresponding to the 161.80% Fibonacci extension. The next target is $2.9032 at the 200% extension. These goals are based on the expectation that the third wave bullish scenario reactivates if XRP can regain and hold above $1.5692.

Dark Defender reassured XRP holders that his previously stated price targets have not changed, provided that the price structure confirms a continued bullish trend above his key levels.

Daily RSI offers additional perspectiveThe daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) for XRP exceeded 70 during the rally to wave (1) earlier in August. Following the recent decline, the RSI has retreated into the mid-40s, indicating the market has unwound some of its overbought conditions. This pullback allows room for renewed momentum should a rebound occur.

Mini dictionary: RSI (Relative Strength Index) — A technical indicator measuring the speed and change of price movements, typically used to identify overbought or oversold conditions in financial markets.

Outlook remains constructiveDespite the downward break, Dark Defender reiterated his constructive stance, stating that as long as XRP remains above $1.3798 and can reclaim $1.5692, the scenario for a bullish third wave continues. Reaching $1.8815 and $2.9032 would represent the next stages if these criteria are satisfied.

The XRP decentralization debate is heating up again, with Justin Bons, the founder of Cyber Capital, claiming that XRP advocates are duping retail investors ahead of a controversial XRP Ledger update.

"Selling XRP to retail as 'decentralized' is straight up fraud!" wrote Justin Bons in a recent X post.

The passionate cryptocurrency analyst cited the use of undocumented software code by the XRP Ledger in its recent development as an example showing major flaws in the network's governance and consensus system.

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Bons believes the XRP Ledger has been operating on closed-source code for around two weeks now and that the change is expected to become mandatory as of Friday, Oct. 9.

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XRP Ledger developers shipped an emergency software update on Sept. 25, version 3.4.1 for the XRP Ledger server software. It tackles security-sensitive problems and adds the fixBatchV1_2 amendment.

XRP Ledger developers confirmed that sensitive security fixes are currently not published in source code form, which they plan to release together with a technical retrospective.

Should the amendment remain adequately supported and be activated on Oct. 9, outdated software servers will be amendment-blocked and will be unable to stay in sync with the network.

Bons claims that keeping the source code undisclosed leads to unnecessary security concerns. 

Is XRP really centralized?Regarding the whole debate over centralization, the key point is the Unique Node List (UNL) model of the XRP Ledger.

As opposed to Bitcoin's Proof-of-Work system, the XRP Ledger depends on validators that individual network participants must trust. Ripple and the XRP Ledger Foundation publish lists of recommended validators that are used by default in the server configurations.

Anyone can run a validator for the XRP Ledger, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have any say in consensus. The other participants need to include them in their trusted list.

Technically, node operators may use any validators they wish, but XRP Ledger documentation warns that inadequate shared lists may lead to a node diverging from the rest of the network.

In the eyes of Bons, the existence of recommended validator lists gives their publishers too much power over the network.

XRP, a cryptocurrency developed by Ripple Labs to facilitate fast and low-cost global payments, is drawing renewed attention after a prominent analyst set a bold $50 target, implying a projected $3 trillion market capitalization. The forecast comes from XRP Update (@XrpUdate), a well-known supporter and commentator within the digital asset community, who recently shared his analysis based on long-term technical patterns observed on the asset’s monthly chart.

Historical chart patternsXRP’s price history dates back to 2014 and reveals several significant trends. Between 2014 and 2017, the asset moved sideways below a persistent horizontal resistance level, repeatedly testing it before finally breaking out in late 2017. This rally culminated in XRP’s previous all-time high, reached in January 2018.

Crypto market analysts often reference the 2017 breakout when discussing potential parallels in current market behavior. The historical significance of this event continues to influence projections about XRP’s possible future price movements.

“This monthly structure is projecting something massive. $50 XRP, approximately $3 trillion market cap—if this plays out, it will be absolute cinema.”

The new technical setupFrom 2018 through 2024, XRP formed a broader consolidation pattern, known as a triangle, defined by a rising trendline and a flat resistance band near $2.10. This resistance, highlighted in red on chart analyses, was tested multiple times in the years following the previous rally, yet XRP failed to maintain momentum above that threshold.

A major shift occurred in late 2024. According to the analyst, XRP broke above the $2.10 resistance after experiencing a 500% surge, briefly turning this barrier into a support level. The chart pattern reveals a sharp vertical price advance that took XRP into the $9 to $14 range by early 2026. As of now, the asset trades around $1.50, consolidating just below the previous resistance zone.

Mini dictionary: Consolidation triangle, a technical chart pattern representing a period during which an asset’s price moves within converging trendlines, signaling reduced volatility before a potential breakout.

Measured move and future outlookXRP Update applies the measured move approach, a technical analysis method that estimates the magnitude of a price move following a breakout using the depth of the preceding consolidation pattern. In the case of XRP, each prior breakout from similar formations delivered sizable returns relative to the range of the pattern.

The analyst notes that XRP’s recent break of the resistance level and conversion to support could serve as a springboard for a much larger price move. While XRP surpassed its previous all-time high of $3.65 after the recent surge, XRP Update argues that the scale and duration of the current structure suggest the potential for an even greater rally.

PeriodResistance LevelBreakout ResultHighest Price Achieved2014–2017Horizontal resistanceMajor rallyJanuary 2018 all-time high2018–2024$2.10500% rally, new support$9–$14 in 2026Currently, XRP trades near $1.50. The analyst’s $50 price target would result in a $3 trillion market capitalization, assuming the current circulating supply. Analysts caution that sustaining the support level just below the old resistance is critical for the projected upward move to materialize.

The current monthly structure aligns with prior patterns that have historically led to transformative rallies in $XRP, and holding the retested support could trigger the next major advance.

Bitcoin as low as $80,000 Thursday as renewed tensions involving Iran and growing concerns over AI-driven threats to crypto security weighed on cryptocurrencies.

Notable Statistics:

Coinglass data shows 164,899 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $1.02 billion.        SoSoValue data shows net outflows of $487.07 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs on Wednesday. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net outflows of $160.8 million. In the past 24 hours, top losers include Venice Token, Zcash and Avalanche. Notable Developments:

Tom Lee Predicts ‘Largest Crypto Bull Market Ever’ but ETH Craters 5%Bitcoin Tumbles to $82,000 but $205,000 Remains the Target, Analyst SaysXRP Drops Another 3.5%: What Is Going On?Is This Dump a ‘Buy Signal’ for Bitcoin, ETH, XRP? One Analyst Says ‘Yes but…’Ethereum Co-Creator Vitalik Buterin Says ‘Don’t Scramble’ to Move Funds to New Wallets, but Take AI Risks to Crypto ‘Seriously’XRP ETFs Are Growing but Why Does the Zcash ETF Get all the Attention?Can the CLARITY Act Make A Comeback? Rep. French Hill Says MaybeTrader Notes:

Scott Melker in a podcast with Nick Ducoff, Head of Institutional Growth, Solana Foundation highlighted that crypto industry is entering a tokenization super cycle, driven by stablecoin payments, institutional adoption and tokenized securities.

Despite its prolonged bear market, Ducoff remains bullish on Solana amidst continued institutional development and more than $1 billion in assets under management for a U.S. Solana ETF.

Melker argued that Bitcoin’s decline below $82,800 is a potential healthy retest and does not necessarily invalidate its emerging bullish structure.

The 50-week moving average of $77,000 represents another possible downside target that he would not consider particularly concerning.

Melker believes Bitcoin’s recent higher high and recovery above major moving averages suggest the broader bearish trend may be ending.

Image: Shutterstock

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has placed a spotlight on the rapidly expanding world of tokenized assets, referencing major public blockchains including the XRP Ledger, Stellar, Ethereum, and Solana. This comes as industry focus intensifies on how financial institutions are embracing blockchain technology for regulated stablecoin issuance and new efficiencies in payments.

IMF’s analysis of tokenized finance trendsThe IMF’s July 2026 note, “The Rise of Tokenization: Deciphering New Trends in Payments and Asset Tokenization,” examines how banks and financial institutions are increasingly adopting public distributed ledger technology (DLT) for regulated digital assets. Rather than ranking or endorsing any particular network, the report points out that multiple permissionless blockchains are being utilized for real-world financial applications.

A concrete example discussed in the report is Société Générale’s euro-backed stablecoin, EUR CoinVertible (EURCV). The bank, a leading financial group based in France, has issued this asset on several public blockchains: Ethereum, Solana, the XRP Ledger, and Stellar. This illustrates a trend among regulated entities to experiment with open, public ledgers alongside private or permissioned networks.

Mini dictionary: Société Générale is one of Europe’s largest financial institutions, headquartered in France, and is active in both traditional and digital finance sectors.

The IMF references these blockchains not as the “leading” networks, but as examples of infrastructure being used by major banks to test regulated stablecoins on public protocols. The discussion underlines that public blockchain adoption is being observed across global banking partners, including those operating within the SWIFT network.

Market size, risks, and cautious outlookIn a separate analysis, the IMF’s October 2026 Global Financial Stability Report, “The Expansion of Tokenization: New Efficiencies and Vulnerabilities,” evaluates the scale and risks associated with increased tokenization. The report estimates the value of the tokenized real-world asset market at about $65 billion as of July.

Fixed-income products currently represent the dominant share of these tokenized assets. However, the IMF flags growing operational, liquidity, and contagion risks that come with greater dependence on smart contracts and decentralized ledgers. The report adopts a notably cautious tone, raising concerns rather than serving as advocacy for rapid tokenization.

IMF analysts emphasize that while banks are exploring regulated stablecoins on public blockchains such as XRP Ledger and Stellar, the growing market for tokenized real-world assets introduces new risks alongside efficiencies for the financial system.

Blockchain networkBank stablecoin testedGlobal adoption contextEthereumEURCVYesSolanaEURCVYesXRP LedgerEURCVYesStellarEURCVYesIn both the July and October IMF reports, there is no attempt to rank blockchains or declare any one network as dominant. The documentation simply records that multiple major chains have been chosen for institutional trials and deployments of stablecoins.

Interpretation and industry reactionsSocial media conversations have resurfaced around the IMF’s coverage of blockchain networks, with particular attention to the roles of XRP Ledger and Stellar as part of Europe’s regulated stablecoin implementations. However, the IMF remains neutral and analytical, focusing on infrastructure and market assessment rather than picking favorites among blockchain networks.

Discussions within the industry reflect this perspective, interpreting mentions of individual blockchains as recognition of their infrastructure role rather than explicit endorsements. Market observers continue to monitor how future IMF reports will address the balance between innovation and risk in tokenized finance.

The leap from being cited as infrastructure in regulatory documents to being called “leading” is an interpretive step, not a factual declaration by the IMF.

The short-term XRP RSI on the 4-hour timeframe has dropped to levels the market last saw when prices stood at around $1.05.

XRP started October on a weak note, falling from $1.52 on Oct. 6 to around $1.41 at the time of writing. This represents a decline of about 7% in just a few days and came as a broader selloff hit the crypto market. The drop also pushed XRP below the $1.45 level, which had previously provided support.

As the downtrend persists, market analyst CryptoInsightUK revealed that the decline has pushed the XRP RSI on the 4-hour chart to a level last seen when the price traded at $1.05.

Notably, XRP had climbed to $1.70 in September, but the price later began forming a descending triangle. The pattern developed as each rebound produced a lower high while the price continued to test a relatively flat support area. The latest selloff pushed XRP below that support.

XRP RSI Hits a Level Not Seen Since $1.05 Amid the drop, XRP’s 4-hour Relative Strength Index (RSI) fell to about 29.47, taking it below the important 30 oversold level. The RSI measures price momentum on a scale from 0 to 100. Readings below 30 generally show that an asset has faced selling pressure and can increase the chance of a short-term rebound.

XRP RSI on 4h Chart | Source: CryptoInsightUK on X The current reading is even more important when compared with XRP’s earlier price action. During the visible period on the chart, the RSI reached similarly low levels on only two previous occasions. 

On both occasions, XRP traded near $1.00. This time, the RSI has fallen to the same area while XRP remains around $1.41. This shows how strong the recent selling has been and indicates that XRP may start holding up well at higher price levels.

Two Scenarios Playing Out According to CryptoInsightUK, the charts point to two possible paths for XRP from here. The first involves a relatively quick recovery, either through a rebound from current levels or a move toward the range high around $1.70. 

Notably, the recent break below support could be a possible fakeout, where XRP briefly falls below a key level, forces weaker holders out of the market, and then recovers. If this happens, buyers could push the price back toward the liquidity sitting around the range highs.

The second scenario would require XRP to move lower before finding consistent support. An accompanying chart shows a fair value gap between roughly $1.31 and $1.36, marked by the grey area left during XRP’s September rally. 

XRP 4h Chart Markets often return to these unfilled areas before continuing their moves. A drop into this zone would also bring XRP closer to the $1.30 and $1.29 support levels shown on the charts.

Such a move could also set up a bullish divergence. This would happen if XRP makes a lower low while the RSI makes a higher low, showing that selling pressure may be weakening as the price falls. However, if the $1.30 and $1.29 supports fail, XRP could face a deeper decline toward the more aggressive downside target of $1.22.

The Level to Watch The $1.31-$1.36 range is now the main area to watch. A move into this grey zone could present a more favorable risk-reward setup for patient buyers considering additional spot exposure or a low-leverage long position. 

However, XRP has yet to produce a confirmed reversal signal, so another move below the $1.29 support remains possible.

The most reliable sign of a trend change would come from a bullish divergence on the 4-hour RSI. XRP would need to make a lower low while the RSI holds a higher low. This would show that sellers are losing strength and could signal that buyers are starting to regain control.

TL;DR

Ripple moved 200M XRP between its own addresses, then sent 20M XRP to a new address.The XRPL amendment PermissionDelegationV1_1 goes live today at 21:25 UTC, letting firms assign up to 10 roles to third-party apps without exposing master keys.BTC fell to $82,165, and liquidations reached $395.78M.Spot ETFs saw net outflows of $487.37M from BTC funds and $160.84M from ETH funds (SoSoValue).ESMA requires EU crypto firms to close positions in non-MiCA-compliant stablecoins by January 8, 2027.The cryptocurrency market continues its correction, fueled by fresh U.S. macroeconomic data. Initial jobless claims fell to 197,000. For the Federal Reserve, this is a sign of a stable labor market that reduces the likelihood of further interest rate cuts, prompting investors to reduce their exposure to risk assets.

According to CoinGlass, the daily volume of forced liquidations of leveraged positions stands at $395.78 million, of which $344.49 million comes from long positions.

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Market sentiment is further pressured by historical memory: the market is approaching the anniversary of October 11, 2025, when the U.S.-China trade conflict triggered a record $19.16 billion in liquidations in a single day.

Cryptocurrency market capitalization heat map highlighting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and major altcoin price performance on October 8, 2026, Source: CoinMarketCapCaution among major players is driving funds out of spot crypto funds. According to SoSoValue data, BTC ETFs recorded net outflows of $487.37 million over the past 24 hours, while ETH ETFs lost $160.84 million. Selling pressure is also hitting funds based on Hyperliquid (HYPE, -$32.52 million), Solana (SOL, -$5.45 million) and XRP (-$2.61 million).

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An additional negative factor comes from requirements imposed by European regulator ESMA. The agency is requiring EU crypto companies to fully close positions in all stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA rules by January 8, 2027.

Outside the speculative sector, however, blockchain infrastructure continues to develop: the capitalization of tokenized real-world assets (RWA) remains at $65 billion, while the IMF notes sustained interest in 24/7 stock trading on blockchain.

Ripple's moves: Where are millions of XRP going?A major movement of capital has been recorded on the XRP Ledger. Blockchain data detected a transaction involving 200,000,000 XRP, executed at 09:37:31 UTC. The funds moved between internal addresses, from Ripple (1) to the balance of Ripple (50). Immediately afterward, Ripple split the amount, transferring 20,000,000 XRP to a new, unknown address.

One obvious theory is that the company is building liquidity for prime brokerage operations in the U.S. market. The $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road and the launch of Ripple Prime have turned the company into a counterparty in the $256 billion leveraged ETF market, where Ripple earns fees of up to 8% annually, including from funds holding SanDisk shares.

The capital transfer coincides with preparations for the activation of the PermissionDelegationV1_1 protocol amendment, which goes live today at 21:25 UTC. The update allows corporate account owners to use DelegateSet transactions to assign up to 10 specific roles, such as compliance or internal audit, to third-party applications or subsidiary teams without exposing the wallet's private master keys.

XRP Ledger explorer block explorer showing a successful 200,000,000 XRP payment from Ripple (1) to Ripple (50) on October 8, 2026, Source: XRPScanWith the development of AI tools, this type of key isolation is becoming a standard security requirement.

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The technological changes are accompanied by commercial expansion. The Wall Street Journal reports that Ripple is moving into the territory of traditional custody and brokerage services. Infrastructure provider Paxos is adding XRP to its regulated platform, opening the asset to clients such as PayPal and Charles Schwab.

XRP currently has a $95 billion market capitalization across 8.1 million wallets, while the company's native stablecoin, RLUSD, has surpassed a $2.5 billion market cap, preparing to capture a share of the European market following the ESMA directive.

‼️Permission Delegation will be activated in 10h on the XRP Ledger! New era for institutional account access management. This will open the doors to a lot of interesting players. This feature allows especially treasury and asset issuers to delegate XRP account specific jobs like compliance to designated teams, without sharing the account keys with them. Big folks. Very big.

— Vet (@Vet_X0) October 8, 2026 The infrastructure updates are complemented by the fresh release of Ripple Custody 1.43, which adds support for Canton Coin, while the launch of Evernorth's XRPN treasury instrument on Nasdaq has been postponed to October 12.

Crypto market news: AI threat to encryption and the industry's responseThe main theme on October 8, 2026, is the progress of artificial intelligence in mathematics, which is raising practical concerns among blockchain developers. While Google Cloud is rolling out its enterprise AI assistant Gemini Agent, OpenAI has published 722 complex mathematical manuscripts generated by an experimental model.

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake warns of a risk that the ECDSA signature algorithm could be effectively cracked within months due to OpenAI's mathematical breakthrough.

In response, Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin recommends that major holders use addresses with no outgoing transactions to conceal their public keys on-chain and gradually transition to hash-based cryptography.

Amid these discussions, a Satoshi Nakamoto-era address that had been dormant for more than 16 years became active: an ancient miner transferred 100 BTC (~$8.33 million) mined back in July 2010.

CZ Binance quote retweeting Vitalik Buterin's post about AI risks to cryptography on October 8, 2026. Source: @cz_binance / X. You Might Also Like

At the same time, the industry is responding to security challenges and developing new infrastructure formats:

Starknet's maneuver: The major L2 network says it plans to transition into an independent L1 blockchain to enable autonomous implementation of quantum- and AI-resistant protection by 2027, without waiting for lengthy upgrades on Ethereum.Solana user boom: The Solana network has grown 124% since the beginning of September, according to Santiment, while in late October, Samsung is set to integrate USDC transfers across the Solana and Sui networks directly into Samsung Wallet for 82 million Galaxy devices in the U.S.Real estate-backed lending: Real-world asset tokenization is reaching practical use. On RNT Lend, a platform built with Aave on Polygon, total value locked has surpassed $20 million, while loans backed by real estate have reached $9 million.79th Vault incident: On the negative side, CertiK analysts reported a likely exploit of the DeFi project 79th Vault, resulting in $12.5 million in losses.Market outlook: What investors should prepare forThe daily capital outflow from ETFs, totaling $689 million, looks painful, but technical and intermarket analysis shows that the long-term uptrend remains intact. Bitcoin's local drop to $82,165 is a textbook technical retest of the broken descending trendline of the annual channel from above, helping to relieve overbought conditions.

Dynamic support is located at $77,086 (50 MA), while the foundation of the global trend is the 200 MA at around $66,509.

The Bitcoin-to-gold ratio chart also confirms buyer strength: BTC has held above macro support and is testing resistance, demonstrating that large capital continues to systematically choose the scarce digital asset as its primary hedge.

Meanwhile, Ethereum at $2,527.57 remains squeezed between resistance at the 200-week MA ($2,536.40) and support at the 50 MA ($2,123.05), indicating a phase of liquidity accumulation.

Intra-day price performance comparison chart for BTCUSD, ETHUSD, and OTHERS index on October 8, 2026, Source: TradingViewFor XRP/USD, the current correction to $1.3942 represents a healthy retest of the upper boundary of the broken multi-month descending wedge and the long-term moving-average cluster in the $1.26–$1.27 range.

The global reversal is also confirmed by the altcoin market capitalization index excluding the top 10 assets (OTHERS), which has turned the former heavy resistance around $206 billion into solid support, opening the way for a medium-term rally.

Key checkpoints for the near term:

October 9: Activation of the BatchV1_1 amendment on the XRPL to launch batch transactions and optimize the throughput of the Ripple network.October 12: Official launch of Evernorth's XRPN fund on Nasdaq, which will become an important marker of institutional demand for XRP in the U.S.BTC support: Monitoring whether Bitcoin holds the 50-week moving average support at $77,086.ETF flows: A slowdown in capital outflows from spot BTC and ETH funds as a signal that the local correction may be nearing its end.Late October: Launch of free USDC transfers in Samsung Wallet across 82 million Galaxy devices in the U.S., which will help determine the fundamental strength of the bullish trend in Solana and Sui. You Might Also Like

Ripple, the cryptocurrency company behind XRP, is emerging as a new player in the leveraged ETF funding market, which has long been dominated by Wall Street banks.

Ripple is expanding its operations into traditional financial markets.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Ripple is now making its way onto Wall Street. Ripple is emerging as a new player in the leveraged ETF funding market, which has long been dominated by Wall Street banks.

Ripple Prime is Now Active! The news report stated that Ripple Prime provides funding for leveraged ETFs that track the daily returns of individual stocks and major indices multiples of their respective value.

At this point, Ripple Prime generates revenue by providing financial contracts to ETF managers who can track stock returns in multiples, and charging them fees in return.

The WSJ article cited Ripple’s funding of the Tradr 2X Long SNDK Daily ETF as an example. It noted that the SanDisk 2x leveraged ETF paid Ripple approximately 8% annually. However, Ripple has not yet disclosed the amount of revenue it receives from leveraged ETF funding or the extent to which XRP and XRP Ledger are used in these transactions.

Competition Heats Up on Wall Street! The size of the leveraged ETF market in the US also reveals why Ripple is focusing on this area. According to Morningstar Direct data, which the WSJ report cites, 593 leveraged ETFs in the country manage over $256 billion in assets.

It was also noted that banks’ limited scope for action in certain areas due to capital and risk regulations has created new opportunities for financial companies like Ripple Prime.

Ripple has also expanded its relationship with hedge fund Brevan Howard, beginning to offer prime brokerage, clearing, and financing services across multiple asset classes. These moves are interpreted as Ripple preparing to take on a larger role in the institutional infrastructure of traditional finance, extending beyond the crypto market.

*This is not investment advice.

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XRP Ledger (XRPL) Permission Delegation Nears Activation as Validator Support Holds.

The XRP Ledger is approaching activation of PermissionDelegationV1_1, an upgrade that will let accounts hand specific permissions to another account without giving away control of their main keys.

The amendment’s 14-day approval window reaches its earliest activation point at approximately 21:25 UTC today, Oct. 8.

At the latest check, it was about 14:46 UTC, leaving roughly 6 hours and 34 minutes until that threshold.

The amendment still depends on validator support remaining above the required level through the full window.

XRPL’s PermissionDelegationV1_1 amendment reached majority support on Sept. 24 and is approaching its earliest activation window on Oct. 8 at 21:25 UTC, subject to validator support remaining above the required threshold. Permission Delegation Has 30 of 35 Validator Votes The live XRPL amendment tracker showed 30 of 35 trusted validators voting yes at its latest roll call, while 29 votes are needed to keep the activation countdown running.

The current majority began on Sept. 24 at 21:25 UTC after an earlier approval period was interrupted. XRPL amendments need support from more than 80% of trusted validators for 14 consecutive days.

If support falls back to 80% or below before the timer completes, the countdown resets again.

That explains why earlier reports pointing to an Oct. 5 activation did not materialize.

The Oct. 8, 21:25 UTC mark is also not necessarily the exact second the feature turns on. Amendment votes are processed at flag ledgers, which arrive roughly every 16.5 minutes.

Based on the current ledger schedule, actual activation could occur around 21:42 UTC, provided the majority remains intact.

What Permission Delegation Changes on XRPL PermissionDelegationV1_1 introduces a DelegateSet transaction and a corresponding Delegate ledger object.

An XRPL account will be able to authorize another account to carry out selected operations on its behalf. The delegating account keeps control of its keys while choosing exactly which functions the other account can perform.

The system supports up to 10 permissions per delegation entry, and those permissions can later be changed or revoked. Examples include allowing another account to send certain transaction types or handle narrowly defined tasks such as trust-line authorization.

This gives businesses and institutions a way to separate responsibilities. A company, for example, could let an operations account handle one type of transaction without giving it unrestricted authority over the treasury account.

This Is the Revised Version of Permission Delegation The amendment scheduled for activation is PermissionDelegationV1_1, introduced with XRPL server version 3.3.0.

It replaces the original PermissionDelegation amendment, which was disabled after a critical bug was found. The revised version fixes that implementation while retaining the underlying XLS-75 model.

There is still one technical caution. XRPL documentation currently recommends avoiding delegation of the PaymentBurn granular permission until the separate fixCleanup3_4_0 amendment is enabled. Other granular permissions are not affected by that warning.

If validator support holds, the next milestone comes tonight: the 14-day threshold at 21:25 UTC, followed by activation at the next eligible flag-ledger sequence shortly afterward.

Evernorth, an XRP-focused treasury entity backed by Japan-based financial conglomerate SBI Group, has drawn the attention of the crypto sector with its declared strategy to actively increase the value of its XRP holdings. The plan, documented in official SBI slides and highlighted by crypto researcher SMQKE, marks a distinct approach compared to typical corporate assets that are simply held without further action.

Strategic investment and active measuresSBI Group invested $200 million in Evernorth through a Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) deal. SMQKE, a well-known independent crypto researcher, emphasized that Evernorth is not passively storing XRP but has committed to implementing strategies aimed at asset growth. These strategies include providing institutional lending and utilizing decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.

According to official SBI materials, Evernorth’s model involves lending out XRP to institutional investors and deploying assets in DeFi operations to generate returns. Unlike typical treasury vehicles, which accumulate digital assets and await price appreciation, Evernorth intends to reinvest yields to further expand its XRP position.

Mini dictionary: SBI Group is a Japanese financial services group with major operations in banking, asset management, and digital assets, recognized for its leadership in crypto investments across Asia.

SMQKE noted that these steps by Evernorth are directly documented in SBI’s publicly released reports. The strategy is seen as a deliberate attempt to enhance Evernorth’s overall exposure to XRP and to influence the value trajectory of its significant holdings.

Digital Asset Investor, a prominent figure in the XRP community, pointed out that Evernorth is not merely forming a treasury to hold digital assets. He remarked, “You’re not creating an XRP treasury unless you’re expecting the value of XRP to go up, and expecting to do everything you can to make the value go up.”

You’re not creating an XRP treasury unless you’re expecting the value of XRP to go up, and expecting to do everything you can to make the value go up.

Evernorth currently holds 473 million XRP tokens, placing it among the largest public XRP treasury holders worldwide. Its strategy of deploying active measures, rather than solely accumulating tokens, is viewed within the community as a strong signal of intent regarding market participation.

According to publicly available information, yields generated from institutional lending and DeFi will be reinvested into acquiring additional XRP, potentially amplifying Evernorth’s influence as a major corporate holder.

AspectEvernorthTypical Corporate TreasuryAsset strategyActive (lending, DeFi, reinvesting)Passive (hold only)XRP holdings473 millionVaries, generally smallerFunding$200 million (SBI PIPE deal)VariesNasdaq listing and timelineEvernorth is scheduled to debut on the Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN on or around October 12. A brief delay has shifted the closing of its transaction to approximately October 9, with no anticipated impact on the listing process. The recent shareholder vote on September 30 approved the merger, clearing the way for the public launch.

Upon trading commencement, both retail and institutional investors are expected to access regulated exposure to XRP through standard brokerage accounts. The combined effect of Evernorth’s soon-to-be-available security and its active asset management is providing the XRP community with a concrete timeline and a strategic institutional mandate.

The combination of the imminent Nasdaq listing and Evernorth’s documented active strategy offers the XRP community a clear mandate and timeline as trading begins under the new XRPN ticker.

The XRP lending race is already underway, even though the XRP Ledger’s native lending feature hasn’t launched. Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz and Flare CEO Hugo Philion have sparked a friendly debate over just how big the opportunity could become.

The disagreement highlights a bigger question: should developers wait for native tools, or build lending infrastructure around the ledger now?

XRP Lending Could Unlock A Bigger Financial MarketNative XRP Ledger lending would let users lend and borrow assets directly on the blockchain. Validators are still voting on XLS-66, the proposal behind the feature, while XRPL Commons says lending is about to go live and has promoted a New York hackathon with lending and borrowing tracks.

source: xSchwartz says nobody has built anything with the feature yet, leaving early developers plenty of room. He’s long viewed extending credit on the XRP Ledger as important, arguing lending is one of the biggest needs in any financial system.

Flare Wants To Build Before XRPL UpgradesPhilion praised Schwartz’s intelligence but argued he may underestimate lending’s potential. He also pointed to outside infrastructure that can connect to the XRP Ledger.

Flare plans to deploy lending logic on its own side rather than wait for major XRPL upgrades. Its approach combines Protocol Managed Wallets with the Flare Confidential Compute stack, aiming to deliver near-full smart-contract capabilities.

Native Wallet Access Could Avoid Bridge RisksThe proposed setup could let holders lend coins from native XRPL wallets without relying on traditional cross-chain bridges. That would keep assets closer to their native environment, while fees would flow to the Flare ecosystem.

For the XRP lending market, the competition is taking shape before native tools arrive. Schwartz sees room for developers to use the ledger’s existing capabilities; Philion is betting external infrastructure can expand what’s possible. The real test will be whether either approach turns the opportunity into usable lending products.

Story Ends Here

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Ripple's chief technical visionary David Schwartz is returning to the big stage. At the anniversary conference Ripple Swell 2026, which kicks off in New York on October 27, the XRP Ledger co-creator will make his first appearance in his new capacity as CTO Emeritus.

Schwartz stepped away from the company's operational leadership to take a seat on the board of directors, but he is now set to address the key challenge facing the ecosystem: can XRPL as payment rail compete in today's market?

David Schwartz (@JoelKatz), co-creator of the XRP Ledger, joins Ripple's Ayo Akinyele (@ja_akinyele) at Swell for a conversation on what comes next for XRPL, from privacy and AI to DeFi, scalability and institutional-grade infrastructure. "Building What's Next for XRPL" is on Wednesday, October 28 at 4:30 PM ET. See the full agenda and register now: https://t.co/AO92FQGGLk

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— Swell (@RippleSwell) October 8, 2026 For the crypto community, his appearance on the main stage for a keynote address is an unexpected and significant move. After stepping down as CTO, the market did not expect Schwartz to return so quickly to presenting the company's technological strategy publicly. 

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On October 28 at 4:30 p.m. ET, he will hold a fireside chat titled "Building What's Next for XRPL" with Ayo Akinyele, RippleX's head of engineering and a computer science Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University specializing in applied cryptography, private zk-transfers, and AI infrastructure.

AI, privacy, and Matt Damon: What Ripple is preparing for its anniversary conferenceIn essence, the market will see a presentation of the network's new technological framework, from the integration of AI tools to privacy-preserving transactions at the ledger level.

This time, Ripple is undertaking a serious experiment by bringing together the purely financial Swell forum with the engineering summit Apex and the academic platform UBRI Connect. Around 1,500 participants will gather at The Shed cultural center.

The speaker lineup confirms this balance. Alongside Schwartz, former NYSE President Tom Farley, BNY's Head of Global Markets Laide Majiyagbe, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse will take the stage. The unexpected addition is Hollywood actor Matt Damon: his Water.org foundation plans to use the new dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD for microfinance missions in Asia and Africa.

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The market backdrop adds a dose of hard pragmatism to Schwartz's session. XRP closed the third quarter with a powerful 46% rally, settling around $1.53 with a market capitalization approaching $97 billion. Against this backdrop, investors expect the Ripple technology patriarch to deliver not routine forecasts, but concrete commitments in code.

The network needs technical guarantees to bring fully fledged financial markets onto the blockchain, and Schwartz will have to prove that the XRPL architecture is ready for it.

Dutch cryptocurrency analyst Gert van Lagen has outlined a bullish scenario for $XRP, suggesting the asset could eventually reach $50. Van Lagen, who frequently publishes technical analyses on digital assets, based this projection on a monthly XRP price chart, highlighting the formation of a symmetrical triangle pattern that began developing in 2018.

Technical structure and resistance levelsVan Lagen identified the $2.10 price point as a historic resistance level, noting that this area now serves as a key focus for market participants expecting a potential breakout. He argued that previous resistance levels have historically flipped to become significant support, which may set the stage for an accelerating upward move if the triangle pattern is confirmed.

He pointed to precedent from XRP’s price action in 2017, referencing a period when XRP’s value in relation to Bitcoin multiplied 50-fold within two months. Van Lagen stated that a similar scenario could lead to Bitcoin trading at $450,000, with XRP potentially reaching $50.

Van Lagen described the outlook as “normal bull market dynamics,” emphasizing the technical strength he observes in the current setup.

Despite these observations, some market participants have raised skepticism, with critics questioning the practicality of such high price targets. For instance, Crypto Berry, an active commentator on X (formerly Twitter), referred to the $50 price projection as “delusional,” while others humorously cited hypothetical “massive sell-walls at $32.”

Market cap implications and community responseThe forecast of a $50 valuation for XRP has prompted debate regarding broader market implications. At this price, XRP would command a market capitalization around $3 trillion, a figure that currently surpasses the total value of all cryptocurrencies combined.

MetricCurrent XRPAt $50 ProjectionPrice(Current market price)$50Market capitalization(Current market cap)~$3 trillionTotal crypto market cap(Current total)Van Lagen’s chart also displays strengthening support levels, with higher lows forming beneath existing trading ranges. This technical aspect is often interpreted by analysts as an indication of sustained bullish intent, provided the pattern continues.

Santiment Intelligence, a social blockchain research firm, has observed an upsurge in negative commentary surrounding XRP since mid-2025. The company suggested that such a dramatic rise in pessimism could be a contrarian indicator, potentially hinting at an impending shift in price direction.

Crypto Twitter has seen ongoing debate over the technical validity of the symmetrical triangle formation underpinning Van Lagen’s thesis. Some crypto enthusiasts have dismissed these bullish arguments as unrealistic, while others have continued to discuss the supply hurdles and resistance barriers that could affect XRP’s trajectory.

Mini dictionary: Santiment Intelligence is a blockchain analytics company providing data-driven insights and research on cryptocurrency markets, focusing on social metrics and investor sentiment.

Discussion on technical indicatorsNot all analysts agree with the exceedingly bullish outlook, with some labeling the symmetrical triangle analysis as “hopium.” Critics cite the outsized market cap implications and the need for unprecedented capital inflows into XRP for such targets to materialize.

Supporters of the bullish theory have pointed out that technical patterns can trigger explosive moves when accompanied by high trading volume and a shift in market psychology.

While Van Lagen’s thesis continues to draw attention across social media, the debate underscores the split perspectives on XRP’s future price potential. For now, XRP remains under close watch, with traders monitoring how it interacts with established resistance and support zones in the months ahead.

An Aster trader holds a 20x XRP short worth about $2.52 million alongside leveraged BTC, ETH, SOL and DOGE shorts, with all trades reportedly in profit.

A large trader on Aster has built leveraged short positions across XRP, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Dogecoin, with all five trades reportedly sitting in profit.

The XRP position alone carries a notional value of roughly $2.52 million, making it one of the more notable bets visible on the account.

The address, 0xdd6a…c065, showed an account balance of about $3.94 million at the time of the snapshot.

Most of that balance sat in USDT, with 3.81 million USDT worth approximately $3.81 million, alongside 181,317 ASTER valued near $129,593.

The trader is using 20x leverage on the short positions.

XRP Short Reaches $2.52M The XRP trade is the clearest large position shown on the account.

Aster account 0xdd6a…c065 shows a 1.795 million XRP short opened at $1.4384 with 20x leverage and roughly $62,312 in unrealized profit. The account also holds a much larger SOL short and additional BTC, ETH and DOGE short positions. The trader is short 1,795,706 XRP with an entry price of $1.4384. At the time of the screenshot, the position carried a value of approximately $2.52 million.

The trade was showing an unrealized profit of $62,311.50, with the platform displaying an ROE of +49.44%.

The important figure for this XRP short trade is the 1.8 million-token short position near $1.4384. As long as XRP remains below that entry, the trade retains an unrealized gain.

A move back above the entry price would begin eroding that advantage, while a stronger rally would increase pressure on the leveraged position.

One Account Is Betting Against Several Major Assets The same account also holds a 75,000 SOL short, again at 20x leverage.

Its entry price is shown at $117.4716, while the position value stood near $8.65 million. Unrealized profit reached approximately $165,212, with an ROE of +38.22%.

The trader has also opened leveraged shorts in BTC, ETH, and DOGE.

The account is also short 18.633 BTC worth about $1.54 million, 3,596.87 ETH worth $9.24 million, and 47.84 million DOGE worth $4.19 million, all using 20x leverage.

At the time of the snapshot, the BTC short was showing an unrealized profit of $4,600.76 with a +5.96% ROE, while the ETH short carried an unrealized profit of $163,952.59 with a +35.48% ROE.

The DOGE position remained the strongest performer, showing about $233,461.60 in unrealized profit and a +111.55% ROE.

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) ETFs hold roughly $1.6 billion combined, dwarfing Grayscale’s single Zcash fund, yet Zcash is the one generating headlines after a record-setting launch.

Why Zcash’s $1 Billion Headline Needs ContextGrayscale Managing Director Krista Lynch told The Starting Block at Token2049 that its Zcash (CRYPTO: ZEC) ETF, (NASDAQ:ZCSH), crossed $1 billion in assets in its first 30 days of trading. 

That puts it among the top 1% of all ETFs launched in the past decade, ranked by how much money they gathered in their first month.

ZCSH crossed $500 million in assets with just over $70 million in net inflows during its first two weeks, according to Grayscale’s September 8 announcement. 

A separate DCG-affiliated entity also contributed about $100 million of ZEC for fund shares in a disclosed related-party transaction.

Assets reflect total holdings, including token-price appreciation, so the $1 billion figure includes more than fresh outside demand. By Oct. 7, ZCSH’s reported assets had already fallen to roughly $767 million.

How XRP’s Ownership Is Split Across IssuersThe five XRP funds tracked by SoSoValue held approximately $1.61 billion combined on Oct. 7, with Bitwise (NYSE:XRP), Franklin (NYSE:XRPZ) and Canary (NASDAQ:XRPC) accounting for most of the assets.

Grayscale’s XRP fund sits at the bottom of the pack, and that gap looks different once you compare it to Zcash’s launch.

Grayscale’s XRP fund holds just 5.8% of total category assets, smaller than the $1 billion ZCSH gathered in its first month alone. 

That gap traces back to heavy redemptions earlier this year, not a lack of early interest in GXRP. 

As Benzinga reported on Jan. 30, GXRP saw $98.39 million in redemptions in a single session, pushing the entire XRP ETF category into net outflows that day.

Grayscale’s own SEC filing showed the toll from the first half of 2026:

Redemptions: 103.41 million XRP worth $180.78 million New creations: just $66.58 million Net redemptions: $114.20 million Fund holdings: fell from 122.23 million XRP to 55.04 million by June 30 GXRP has since started rebuilding, with Maketo estimating its holdings at roughly 65 million XRP on Oct. 7. 

Who’s Actually Buying XRP ETFs?Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas said earlier this year that the XRP ETF buyer base looks like “largely XRP super fans versus casual retail.” 

In plain terms, loyal XRP holders, not Wall Street institutions, may be driving most of the inflows so far, which matters for whether this demand holds up over time or fades once the initial excitement wears off.

Photo via Shutterstock

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© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

David Schwartz vs. Flare CEO: How Big Can XRP Ledger Lending Get?

The analyst sees the 50-week EMA as the dividing line, with multiple closes above it needed to strengthen the bullish continuation case.

XRP is still stuck in a narrow range of around $1.46-$1.56, but an analyst has said that the compression may be about to break into a bigger move.

If the token can break out and hold its resistance, the analyst predicts a bullish path to $1.80-$2, but if it dumps below support, it could drop down to the low $1.30s or worse.

XRP Remains Trapped Between Support and Resistance In a video shared on October 7, ChartNerd described XRP’s current structure as neutral, with price squeezed between descending resistance and horizontal support. The token has spent about a week trading between $1.46 and $1.56 after failing to reclaim its previous $1.70 high, leaving a lower high beneath the earlier peak.

Previous upside wicks have also produced false breakouts, making confirmation especially important. As such, ChartNerd wants to see XRP break resistance, return to test that level as support and then push through the local high before treating the move as a confirmed continuation.

A breakout could matter because the market is already sitting close to several technical decision points. XRP was around $1.47 at the time of writing, down 1.5% in 24 hours and nearly 2% across seven days, while its 30-day performance remains positive at close to 5%. Trading volume also rose almost 32% to around $2.14 billion over the past day.

ChartNerd’s bullish setup uses the September 16 low near $1.25 and the $1.69-$1.70 high to project Fibonacci extensions. A successful breakout could put $1.80 to $2 in view, with around $2.05 as a further possibility. But resistance near $1.65 and $1.69 still needs to be cleared.

Weekly Averages Leave Room for a Deeper Retrace The weekly chart is where the analyst sees the clearest dividing line, considering XRP has been capped by its 50-week EMA for seven weeks, while the rising 20-week EMA is acting as support.

You may also like: 1.6 Billion XRP Moves to Binance: Should Investors Be Worried? ETH, XRP Sentiment Turns Deeply Negative – But Could Fear Set Up a Rebound? XRP Outflows Spike Above 320M, Echoing August Rally Setup According to him, a sustained move through the 50-week EMA, particularly with multiple weekly closes above it, would strengthen the bullish setup, and he also pointed to $1.35 as immediate weekly support, while a loss of the 20-week EMA could open a deeper move toward $1.20 to $1.10.

The broader market data adds another wrinkle, with about 1.6 billion XRP flowing into Binance over the previous 30 days, the highest such inflow since March. Those transfers do not prove selling, but continued exchange inflows alongside weakening price could add pressure.

XRP’s spot ETFs have meanwhile recorded $1.79 billion in cumulative net inflows as of October 6, including $3.14 million that day.

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Xie Jiayin: Peer Program Plans to Cumulatively Cover Over 2.2 Million People, Distribute $3.49 Million in Rewards

Crypto exchange Bitget held an offline event today to mark its 8th anniversary. Xie Jiayin, head of Bitget’s Greater China region, while reviewing the platform’s eight-year development journey, stated that Bitget has evolved from a single cryptocurrency trading platform into a panoramic exchange (UEX) covering diverse scenarios including stocks, commodities, and AI trading. As of the second quarter, non-crypto asset trading volume accounts for 40% of the platform’s total, with roughly one in four new users starting their Bitget journey via rToken. Looking ahead, Xie noted that Bitget will continue advancing its UEX strategy, expanding into more diverse assets and trading scenarios, and enhancing institutional-grade custody and over-the-counter (OTC) settlement infrastructure. The platform will leverage varied custody and settlement models to meet the distinct needs of different types of institutions, with institutional services remaining a key strategic focus for Bitget in the next phase. During the event, Bitget also disclosed progress on the third batch of rewards under its "Peer Program": total distributed rewards have reached $3,495,658, benefiting 2,277,318 users. Xie added that the platform aims to put "user first" into practice through product development, service upgrades, and user-centric initiatives.

13 minutes ago

SemiAnalysis: ByteDance accounts for nearly one-fifth of China's data center capacity, almost entirely relying on leasing.

Dongcha Beating AI News Flash: Semiconductor research firm SemiAnalysis has released a survey on China’s data centers, tracking over 1,000 facilities from more than 60 operators. The report estimates that by the end of 2026, China’s data center capacity will exceed 24GW, ranking second globally behind the U.S.’s 56GW. ByteDance alone accounts for roughly one-fifth, making it China’s largest data center tenant. ByteDance has leased over 4GW of data center capacity, with suppliers including ChinaNetCenter, China United Network Data, and 21Vianet. The report notes that as of early 2026, ByteDance still contributes around 90% of ChinaNetCenter’s revenue. ByteDance has also accelerated self-built data center projects, constructing large facilities in Shanxi, Anhui, and Inner Mongolia to reduce reliance on external suppliers. While China’s data centers have long been viewed as having high vacancy rates, AI server rooms remain in tight supply. This is because many old data centers lack sufficient power and cooling capacity, making it difficult to directly deploy high-power AI servers. Newly built large AI data centers are being leased up rapidly. Taking a 100MW data center as an example, excluding IT equipment such as servers, China’s construction cost is approximately $300 million, compared to $1.5 billion in the U.S. Facilities of the same scale in China are typically delivered in around 12 months. Compared to the U.S., which faces power supply and approval hurdles, the more prominent bottleneck for expanding AI data centers in China is the supply of advanced chips.

13 minutes ago

Mike Colyer, founder and CEO of Bitcoin mining pool operator Foundry, has stepped down after seven years in the role.

Bitcoin mining pool operator Foundry announced that its founder and CEO Mike Colyer is set to step down after seven years in the role. He will remain at Foundry as a strategic advisor for the next six months, assisting the company with its transition and CEO selection process.

13 minutes ago

Circle partners with SAP-backed Tereina to integrate USDC and EURC into SAP’s enterprise payment software.

Circle has partnered with Tereina, a financial services firm backed by SAP, to integrate USDC and EURC stablecoins into SAP’s enterprise payment software ecosystem. The integration will kick off with SAP Cloud ERP and be made available to eligible enterprise customers via SAP Pay. The collaboration aims to enable businesses to send and receive stablecoins within their existing SAP business applications and payment workflows without switching to a separate crypto asset system. USDC will be primarily used for USD-denominated payment scenarios, while EURC is intended for euro-denominated operations. Circle and Tereina plan to launch a customer validation project in the coming months, testing stablecoin payment functions for use cases including global payments and corporate treasury management.

13 minutes ago

Whale Sells 257,928 $HYPE for $23M Profit After 26x Return in 2 Years

A whale who bought 257,928 $HYPE($902K at the time) at only $3.5 ~2 years ago is selling $HYPE for profit. Over the past week, he deposited 131,421 $HYPE ($11.77M) into #Kraken at $89.56 and still holds 140,506 $HYPE ($12.2M). Total profit: over $23M, with a 26x return.

13 minutes ago

Ghostty's developer's new terminal Rex runs 10,000 sessions simultaneously, using only 3.8GB of memory.

Beating AI Express News: Ghostty creator Mitchell Hashimoto has announced scalability tests for his new terminal, Rex. Designed for long-lived sessions and remote connections, Rex allows terminal tasks to run continuously in the background. During the test, Rex maintained 10,000 active terminal sessions simultaneously, consuming approximately 3.8GB of memory while remaining responsive. The team has paused further scaling for now, with the next target being 100,000 sessions. At the 10,000-session mark, much of the overhead no longer stemmed from the terminal itself. The first bottleneck came from Linux’s file descriptor table, the system’s record of files and connections opened by processes. After terminal sessions exceeded around 5,000, each new process added roughly 512KB of overhead for this table alone, even though only about 4 file descriptors were actually used. Rex has since added a segment of C code to shrink this allocated space to the actual required size. Another issue was threads: Previously, Rex assigned one thread per active terminal session to wait for data, leading to excessive memory overhead at scale. Now, if a terminal has no read activity for 2 consecutive seconds, it is handed over to a shared thread for unified monitoring.

13 minutes ago

Xie Jiayin: Peer Program Plans to Cumulatively Cover Over 2.2 Million People, Distribute $3.49 Million in Rewards

Crypto exchange Bitget held an offline event today to mark its 8th anniversary. Xie Jiayin, head of Bitget’s Greater China region, while reviewing the platform’s eight-year development journey, stated that Bitget has evolved from a single cryptocurrency trading platform into a panoramic exchange (UEX) covering diverse scenarios including stocks, commodities, and AI trading. As of the second quarter, non-crypto asset trading volume accounts for 40% of the platform’s total, with roughly one in four new users starting their Bitget journey via rToken. Looking ahead, Xie noted that Bitget will continue advancing its UEX strategy, expanding into more diverse assets and trading scenarios, and enhancing institutional-grade custody and over-the-counter (OTC) settlement infrastructure. The platform will leverage varied custody and settlement models to meet the distinct needs of different types of institutions, with institutional services remaining a key strategic focus for Bitget in the next phase. During the event, Bitget also disclosed progress on the third batch of rewards under its "Peer Program": total distributed rewards have reached $3,495,658, benefiting 2,277,318 users. Xie added that the platform aims to put "user first" into practice through product development, service upgrades, and user-centric initiatives.

13 minutes ago

SemiAnalysis: ByteDance accounts for nearly one-fifth of China's data center capacity, almost entirely relying on leasing.

Dongcha Beating AI News Flash: Semiconductor research firm SemiAnalysis has released a survey on China’s data centers, tracking over 1,000 facilities from more than 60 operators. The report estimates that by the end of 2026, China’s data center capacity will exceed 24GW, ranking second globally behind the U.S.’s 56GW. ByteDance alone accounts for roughly one-fifth, making it China’s largest data center tenant. ByteDance has leased over 4GW of data center capacity, with suppliers including ChinaNetCenter, China United Network Data, and 21Vianet. The report notes that as of early 2026, ByteDance still contributes around 90% of ChinaNetCenter’s revenue. ByteDance has also accelerated self-built data center projects, constructing large facilities in Shanxi, Anhui, and Inner Mongolia to reduce reliance on external suppliers. While China’s data centers have long been viewed as having high vacancy rates, AI server rooms remain in tight supply. This is because many old data centers lack sufficient power and cooling capacity, making it difficult to directly deploy high-power AI servers. Newly built large AI data centers are being leased up rapidly. Taking a 100MW data center as an example, excluding IT equipment such as servers, China’s construction cost is approximately $300 million, compared to $1.5 billion in the U.S. Facilities of the same scale in China are typically delivered in around 12 months. Compared to the U.S., which faces power supply and approval hurdles, the more prominent bottleneck for expanding AI data centers in China is the supply of advanced chips.

13 minutes ago

Mike Colyer, founder and CEO of Bitcoin mining pool operator Foundry, has stepped down after seven years in the role.

Bitcoin mining pool operator Foundry announced that its founder and CEO Mike Colyer is set to step down after seven years in the role. He will remain at Foundry as a strategic advisor for the next six months, assisting the company with its transition and CEO selection process.

13 minutes ago

Circle partners with SAP-backed Tereina to integrate USDC and EURC into SAP’s enterprise payment software.

Circle has partnered with Tereina, a financial services firm backed by SAP, to integrate USDC and EURC stablecoins into SAP’s enterprise payment software ecosystem. The integration will kick off with SAP Cloud ERP and be made available to eligible enterprise customers via SAP Pay. The collaboration aims to enable businesses to send and receive stablecoins within their existing SAP business applications and payment workflows without switching to a separate crypto asset system. USDC will be primarily used for USD-denominated payment scenarios, while EURC is intended for euro-denominated operations. Circle and Tereina plan to launch a customer validation project in the coming months, testing stablecoin payment functions for use cases including global payments and corporate treasury management.

13 minutes ago

Ripple, a leading blockchain technology company known for its global payment infrastructure, has begun competing directly with some of Wall Street’s most prominent banks. This shift was highlighted in a recent Wall Street Journal article, which stated that Ripple has expanded its reach across various segments of the crypto industry, including stablecoins and asset custody. The report underscored the company’s transition from a crypto-focused entity to a significant player in traditional financial markets.

Ripple’s move into prime brokerageA pivotal part of Ripple’s expansion came with its 2025 acquisition of Hidden Road, a prime brokerage firm. The $1.25 billion deal led to the rebranding of the business as Ripple Prime. Now, Ripple Prime provides clearing, financing, and prime brokerage services for institutions engaged with traditional and digital asset markets.

Ripple Prime rapidly secured a major institutional client, Brevan Howard, a prominent global hedge fund. Noel Kimmel, who serves as president of Ripple Prime, described the partnership as proof of the company’s strong competitive stance and the breadth of its offerings across asset classes.

The company has also built a presence in the leveraged ETF sector, a field previously dominated by large financial institutions. By acting as a swap counterparty, Ripple earns financing fees, with a Wall Street Journal analysis noting approximately 8% annualized returns on some transactions. Morningstar Direct reports that the leveraged ETF sector comprises 593 funds with more than $256 billion in total assets.

MetricDetailAcquisition cost (Hidden Road)$1.25 billionLeveraged ETFs (number)593Assets under management$256 billionReported swap counterparty fee8% annualizedRipple and other nonbank financial firms operate under different risk frameworks compared to traditional banks. This provides a structural advantage in markets like ETF financing, which Kimmel described as an increasingly important segment for the firm’s growth.

Mini dictionary: Prime brokerage, a service offered by financial firms to institutions such as hedge funds, includes clearing, settlement, lending, and access to leverage for diverse trading activities.

Implications for XRP and the crypto sectorThe Wall Street Journal report surfaced as XRP, Ripple’s native cryptocurrency, was trading close to $1.42. Ripple Prime leverages the company’s XRP-powered infrastructure, meaning that as Ripple deepens its institutional links, demand for XRP could rise accordingly.

As Ripple’s credibility as an institutional financial operator strengthens, the perception of XRP in investment circles is also evolving. The Journal’s framing of Ripple as a challenger to major banks, rather than simply a crypto-enabled payments provider, is seen as a meaningful shift for Ripple’s ecosystem and the token’s reputation among institutional players.

Ripple’s entrance into leveraged ETF financing, coupled with established partnerships like Brevan Howard, shows how rapidly the company is positioning itself as a real competitor to Wall Street banks across both digital and traditional assets.

Growing recognition and industry statusWSJ Markets shared the news via its official account on X, describing Ripple as a company now actively entering traditional financial territory. For Ripple, which has faced regulatory scrutiny and uncertainty in recent years, this level of acknowledgment marks a notable change in industry perception.

Ripple, founded in 2012, has focused on modernizing payments using blockchain technology, providing tools and services to streamline cross-border transactions for financial institutions. The recent recognition from established financial media outlets signifies its transition into a fully-fledged institutional partner.

Describing Ripple as operating within Wall Street’s landscape, rather than at its margins, reflects the shift in how leading financial circles view the company’s ambitions and capabilities.