JPMorgan Chase has highlighted the potential for tokenization and programmable money to reshape the operations of global finance. According to the bank, these technologies could accelerate payments, reduce settlement times to near-instant levels, and enhance efficiency in cross-border transactions.
The significance of tokenization for JPMorganIn a joint opinion piece, Umar Farooq—Co-Head of Global Payments at JPMorgan—and Peter Muriungi, CEO of Digital Assets and Blockchain Solutions, stressed that blockchain-based financial infrastructure is increasingly vital in a worldwide economy that operates 24/7. They emphasized that as businesses function continuously, traditional financial systems require faster and more flexible solutions.
The executives stated that tokenizing traditional assets such as deposits, bonds, equities, and real estate could minimize friction in payment processes, improve liquidity, and slash settlement times from days to mere seconds.
Farooq and Muriungi underscored that tokenization and programmable money can reduce payment friction, shorten settlement cycles, and deliver efficiency for both companies and consumers.
JPMorgan also stressed that innovation must advance hand in hand with robust regulatory safeguards. The bank noted that stablecoins and tokenized money hold considerable promise, particularly in cross-border payments, but insisted that digital asset service providers adopting bank-like roles should adhere to similar standards regarding capital, liquidity, consumer protection, and regulatory oversight.
Mini glossary: Tokenization means representing real-world or financial assets—such as bonds, deposits, real estate, or commodities—on a blockchain as digital tokens. Programmable money refers to digital currencies that can be programmed to transfer, pay, or settle transactions automatically when specific conditions are met.
Alignment with IMF perspectivesJPMorgan’s assessment closely aligns with recent statements from the International Monetary Fund, which has positioned tokenization as one of the next major advances in finance. The IMF has drawn attention to the transformative potential of tokenization in changing how money and real-world assets move within the global economy.
A technological framework similar to XRPLThe framework described by JPMorgan closely mirrors the technological capabilities of the XRP Ledger (XRPL). Designed for rapid, cost-efficient value transfers, XRPL settles transactions in approximately three to five seconds. The minimal transaction fees—just a fraction of a cent—have made it particularly attractive for cross-border payment scenarios.
Beyond payments, XRPL stands out as a primary platform for tokenizing real-world assets. Financial institutions and developers can directly issue stablecoins, government bonds, commodities, and real estate on the network, allowing for much faster transfers and settlements.
The speed, programmability, efficient settlement structure, and compliance-driven infrastructure offered by XRPL align closely with the elements JPMorgan sees as critical for the future of finance.
Expanding institutional use casesThe network also provides features tailored for institutional use, such as escrow accounts, a built-in decentralized exchange, automated market makers, and permissioned token issuance. These tools enable organizations to automate payments, settlements, and compliance workflows directly on-chain.
Recently, XRPL has placed even greater emphasis on regulatory-compliant stablecoins, permissioned decentralized finance applications, and compliance-focused infrastructure aimed at institutional adoption. This trajectory aligns with JPMorgan’s perspective that blockchain can strengthen the current financial system without undermining regulatory foundations.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Despite XRP’s ongoing weakness, some analysts believe that the possibility of a long-term rally remains on the table. With months of sideways movement in the market leading to a loss of confidence, their assessments suggest that holding on to key support levels could turn the outlook around for the popular cryptocurrency.
Critical support range for XRPCrypto analyst Crypto Tolga argues that rising pessimism around XRP could be setting the stage for a powerful breakout in the long run. According to Tolga, this cycle is unfolding differently from previous ones, with the $0.65 to $0.70 band standing out as the most critical support zone for XRP.
If XRP manages to maintain the $0.65 to $0.70 range as the cycle’s main bottom, Crypto Tolga foresees the potential for one of XRP’s strongest rallies to date.
According to the analyst, as long as this region remains intact, the long-term target of $18 may come back into focus. When compared to XRP’s current price of around $1.06, the $18 mark would represent a surge of approximately 1,600%.
While this projection appears highly ambitious, it is supported by expectations of improved market conditions, growing institutional adoption, and expansion within the XRP Ledger ecosystem. Widely associated with Ripple, the XRP Ledger is an open-source blockchain infrastructure used for payments and asset transfers.
Previous price cycles and market structureAnalysts’ cautiously optimistic views are also reinforced by XRP’s historical price behavior. In the past, the asset has demonstrated sharp upward moves following extended periods of consolidation. This has led some investors to anticipate that a similar break could occur once again.
Mini glossary: Open interest refers to the total amount of outstanding positions in futures contracts that have not yet been settled. On-chain activity describes transfer, wallet interactions, and network usage data directly on the blockchain.
Recent market data also supports this cautious optimism. A noticeable drop in open interest in futures trading suggests that leveraged traders have been exiting the market. Despite this, XRP has managed to remain above the psychologically important $1.00 mark.
$1.10 as a decisive short-term thresholdMeanwhile, a rise in on-chain activity suggests demand is being driven largely by spot buying. Many analysts view this dominance of direct purchases over speculative leverage as a sign of a healthier, more sustainable market structure.
XRP must first overcome the $1.10 resistance for optimism to take hold in the market; a convincing break above this level could help kickstart a fresh upward move.
In the near term, $1.10 is being watched as the most critical technical threshold. Unless this barrier is breached, XRP is likely to continue trading within a defined range as buyers look to build momentum for another attempt higher. Conversely, if the $0.65 to $0.70 support zone remains intact and the overall cryptocurrency market turns bullish, analysts expect that XRP could gain much broader room to move over the long run.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
XRP (XRP) is holding above the $1.00 support zone amid a broader downturn. Yet, on-chain activity is rising.
New wallet, whale, and exchange-traded fund (ETF) activity suggest users are stepping in while the price looks fragile, pointing to demand below the surface.
XRP Price Slump Meets Steady DemandXRP, like the broader market, has seen notable declines this month. The altcoin touched a 19-month low of $1.01 on June 25. It now trades near $1.05, down 0.18% over the past day.
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XRP Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto MarketsYet, on-chain data paint a different picture. Santiment reported that the XRP Ledger added 4,941 new wallets in a single day, marking its strongest network growth in more than three months.
Social sentiment has also flipped bullish. The positive/negative social ratio reached 3.7 positive comments for every bearish one, a three-month high in FOMO, according to Santiment. Traders appear to treat the $1.00 to $1.05 band as a dip-buy area.
“Part of this optimism comes from XRP’s familiar rebound history, ongoing ETF and institutional narratives, and the idea that larger holders have continued building exposure even during ugly price action,” the firm said.
XRP New Wallet and Social Sentiment. Source: X/SantimentOn-Chain Signals Point to AccumulationOn-chain data support that view. Santiment data shows accumulation across all three large cohorts in June despite a 21% price dip. The 10 million to 100 million XRP tier led with 160 million XRP added, the strongest bullish signal of the group.
Smaller cohorts followed. Wallets holding 100,000 to 1 million XRP added 30 million tokens, while those holding 1 million to 10 million XRP gained 20 million tokens. This suggested that large holders continued to accumulate despite the decline.
XRP Whale Accumulation in June. Source: SantimentInstitutional demand has also remained resilient. US spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted $22.99 million in net inflows last week, extending their inflow streak to eight consecutive weeks.
The new week also began on a positive note, with the funds recording $15.34 million in net inflows on Monday. This trend stands in sharp contrast to Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
Bitcoin ETFs have recorded seven consecutive weeks of net outflows totaling approximately $7.7 billion. Investors pulled another $231 million on Monday.
Ethereum ETFs have also experienced consecutive weekly outflows. XRP ETFs, by contrast, have not recorded a single day of net outflows since June 3, although several sessions have ended with flat flows.
Santiment said the open question is whether this wallet surge converts into sustained buying pressure or fades as short-term FOMO. With XRP sitting so close to $1.00, the coming sessions should reveal which way the on-chain demand breaks.
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Bitcoin on Tuesday dropped below $59,000 amid sustained ETF selling and lingering extreme fear sentiment in the cryptocurrency market.
Notable Statistics:
Coinglass data shows 82,520 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $269.92 million. SoSoValue data shows net outflows of $231.1 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs on Monday. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net outflows of $30.04 million. In the past 24 hours, top gainers include MemeCore, Lighter and Pyth Network. Notable Developments:
Trader Notes:
Trader Rekt Capital highlighted that Bitcoin appears to be setting up for a mid-summer relief rally after plunging 21% this month. He added that sharp monthly selloffs have historically been followed by short-term rebounds.
However, the trader cautioned that any gains in July could be erased in August, mirroring Bitcoin’s price action during the 2022 bear market.
Political economist Seth said Bitcoin’s drop to around $58,000 has already triggered a wave of long liquidations, but leveraged traders are quickly re-entering, adding roughly $1.16 billion in long liquidation exposure near $57,800.
He argued that if those new bullish positions are flushed out, market makers could then target the much larger $4.14 billion cluster of short liquidations around the $62,000 level.
Industry expert Follis noted Bitcoin bulls have successfully defended the $59,000 support level 10 times during June despite repeated selling attempts, underscoring strong buying interest at that price.
However, he warned that if the support finally breaks and buyers step aside, Bitcoin could quickly fall another 3% to 4% as downside momentum accelerates.
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The crypto market ahead of EU MiCA’s July 1 deadline remains under pressure, with total value down 0.69% to $2.05 trillion. Traders are watching BTC, ETH, XRP, and BNB Prices as Europe prepares for stricter crypto enforcement.
EU MiCA Deadline Raises Pressure on Crypto Firms The Markets in Crypto Assets (MCA) regulation is at the final stage of enforcement tomorrow. The rules stipulate that exchanges will be required to cease operations throughout the European Union if those exchanges are not approved.
MiCA provides a common ground for crypto trading, custody, and market behaviour. It’s also regarded as the initial wide crypto rulebook of the globe.
The deadline for crypto firms to be approved by MiCA has been reached and only 244 of them have obtained approval so far. Europe previously had more than 3,000 registered crypto companies.
🚨 #Crypto Firms Turn to Dubai as EU Grants Only 244 MiCA Licenses
With just 244 #MiCA licenses issued out of nearly 3,000 applicants, crypto firms are increasingly turning to Dubai as the UAE emerges as a key hub for digital asset businesses.
This will cause a disruption in service for many operators, and possibly even result in operators having to suspend or withdraw from the region. The change may impact user access and Europe’s liquidity in the future.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said the company’s Greece license application failed due to political interference. However, analysts say that euro trading only accounts for a small part of Binance’s spot volume.
The regulatory change is also driving some of the founders to the UAE. European crypto companies are increasingly interested in Dubai’s faster licensing procedures.
Bitcoin price Bitcoin price dropped 1.49% to $59,257 on Tuesday as traders awaited the due date for the EU MiCA. The pressure was largely attributed to the withdrawal of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. June was the month for more than $4.1 billion in outflows for these funds, which dampened investor enthusiasm among institutional buyers.
Source: BTC/USDT chart Tradingview Bitcoin price now faces a decisive test around the $58,000 support zone. If bulls do a defence of that area, then the the Future Bitcoin outlook may trade sideways and regain strength. However, a break below $58,000 could open a move toward $56,000.
Ethereum (ETH) Ethereum price rebounded from $1,500 support level on Tuesday following its failure to hold above it yesterday. The token is recovering from the recent market correction in preparation for EU MiCA.
$ETH is back into its high demand zone.
As long as the $1,500 level holds, Ethereum could have a relief rally next month. pic.twitter.com/aZAB5kt6Ez
— Ted (@TedPillows) June 30, 2026
The initial major selling resistance is around $1,600, where they may test out short-term demand. If the bounce off is stronger, it could propel Ethereum back up to $2,000 and then $2,010. If selling resumes, traders will watch the $1,500 level closely. A further decline may penetrate $1,385 that is still a medium-term support level.
XRP Price XRP price dropped by 0.80% to $1.04 as sentiment in the crypto market softened. The decline came as the Fear and Greed Index stayed at 17, signaling extreme fear. However, fresh inflows into spot ETFs helped support XRP prior to the EU’s MiCA deadline.
Source: Sosovalue data XRP spot ETFs recorded $15.34 million in net inflows on June 29. Bitwise led the flow with $11.94-million, followed by Canary XRPC’s $3.40-million. Cumulative net inflows have now climbed to $1.485 billion. If the price of XRP continues to hold above $1.00, it might try to push towards $1.15. A close below $1.00 could raise the risk of further declines to $0.95.
Binance Coin (BNB) BNB Coin fell 0.92% to $549 amid broader market weakness. However, macro pressure brought by stronger U.S. dollar and geopolitical uncertainty, kept the buyers cautious. The $540-$550 range continues to be a crucial area of support in the lead up to EU MiCA enforcement.
BNB price As long as BNB remains in this range, the token could continue to hold its ground. A failure to break above the range will bring this price to the forefront of consideration at $520.
On June 30, Bitrue became the first platform anywhere to offer 3x leveraged SpaceX exposure in either direction, long (SPCX3L) or short (SPCX3S). No traditional brokerage currently offers leveraged SpaceX exposure in any form, making this one of the most distinctive products to emerge from crypto’s tokenized equity wave so far. SpaceX anchors a broader launch of 10 leveraged tokens, built on top of Bitrue’s multi-issuer spot offering and powered in part by Binance bToken liquidity.
Real Assets on Chain The crypto landscape is shifting. For years, the industry moved in cycles defined by its own assets, Bitcoin, altcoins, DeFi protocols, perpetual futures. But in 2026, a different story is taking shape. The on-chain market for tokenized real-world assets has hit a fresh record near $34 billion, more than tripling from roughly $5.4 billion at the start of 2025, and that growth is no longer being led by institutions alone. After years of flat activity from 2022 to late 2024, new wallet data shows an explosive growth curve sharply accelerating into 2026, with retail participation driving a meaningful share of that expansion. The infrastructure that once existed to trade crypto is increasingly being used to trade everything else.
Tokenized Stocks TVL Growth 2025-2026
Tokenized US stocks have been among the fastest-growing segments of that wave. Ondo Global Markets, which offers tokenized US stocks and ETFs, recently crossed $1 billion in total value locked, one of the fastest-growing real-world asset tokenization products in crypto history. The demand driving those numbers is structural: millions of investors outside the United States want access to US equities, and the traditional system, brokerage restrictions, FX conversion costs, and a market that closes at 4pm New York time, has never served them well.
A Multi-Issuer Foundation, Powered by Binance Liquidity Bitrue’s leveraged launch builds on a broader move it made days earlier: listing 20 spot tokenized US stocks sourced from three separate providers, Ondo, xStocks, and Binance BStocks, all aggregated onto one platform. Where Binance’s BStocks/bTokens product offers a clean, ecosystem-native experience within BNB Chain, Bitrue’s approach pulls that same liquidity and credibility into a multi-issuer structure, giving traders broader asset coverage and issuer optionality without the friction of managing multiple services. Binance bToken liquidity effectively becomes one of three pillars underpinning Bitrue’s aggregated offering, a structural difference that meaningfully widens the playing field for global retail investors.
Why AI and Tech Stocks Are the Real Prize The asset selection Bitrue has gravitated toward is not coincidental. AI and technology stocks now account for roughly 50% of total S&P 500 market capitalization, making names like NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, and AMD the most sought-after equity exposure on the planet. Yet for investors outside the United States, these remain among the hardest to access through traditional channels. Regional restrictions, FX conversion costs, and the hard boundary of New York trading hours have kept a significant share of global retail locked out of the very names driving the current market cycle. Tokenized stocks change that equation, tradeable 24/7, settled in USDT, with no brokerage account required.
Bitrue’s 20 spot tokenized stocks cover this ground directly, with AI and technology names forming the core: NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Tesla rounding out the Magnificent Seven, alongside AMD and Broadcom from the semiconductor space, and MicroStrategy and Palantir, two of the most AI-exposed names in the crypto-native equity space. For investors who want broader coverage, SPY and QQQ offer index-level exposure to the same theme, with SpaceX completing the lineup as the marquee newly listed mega-cap.
There is, however, a dynamic that both exchanges are navigating. Crypto-native traders span a wide spectrum of risk appetites, and the audience that comes to tokenized equities isn’t monolithic. Some investors want the steadier, longer-horizon characteristics that spot stock exposure naturally offers; others are looking for a way to size their conviction more aggressively and want a structured path to amplified exposure. Leveraged tokens exist precisely to serve that second group, a complement to spot, not a replacement for it, giving traders across the risk spectrum a product that actually fits their profile.
Amplifying Conviction With Bitrue’s 3x Leveraged Tokens This is where Bitrue’s June 30 launch takes the product a step further. Rather than simply mirroring the spot lineup, Bitrue curated 10 assets for its 3x Leveraged Token offering around the names where trader conviction tends to run highest, grouped across four categories:
AI and semiconductors: NVIDIA (NVDA3L/NVDA3S), Tesla (TSLA3L/TSLA3S), and AMD (AMD3L/AMD3S) Deeper chip exposure: Micron (MU3L/MU3S), Intel (INTC3L/INTC3S), and SanDisk (SNDK3L/SNDK3S) Crypto-native AI: Circle (CRCL3L/CRCL3S) and MicroStrategy (MSTR3L/MSTR3S) Index and frontier exposure: the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY3L/EWY3S) for Asian technology market breadth, and SpaceX (SPCX3L/SPCX3S), the standout first-of-its-kind addition, the only name on this list with no equivalent leveraged product at any traditional broker. What sets these tokens apart is the risk structure. Unlike perpetual futures, there are no margin requirements, no liquidation events, and no funding rates quietly eroding returns. Each token moves at 3x the underlying asset’s daily return, long or short, settled in USDT, giving traders a more direct, conviction-sized way to amplify exposure to AI and technology names without the complexity of derivatives.
Crypto Tokenization Assets Evolution
Built on BNB Chain for a Reason The decision to build on the BNB Chain is deliberate rather than incidental. BStocks, backed by Binance, brings the liquidity depth and ecosystem credibility of the world’s largest exchange to the underlying token infrastructure. For a product category where liquidity and trust are foundational, that backing provides a meaningful foundation for both platforms, and it is a key reason Bitrue chose BNB Chain as the infrastructure layer for its own leveraged token products.
What This Week Actually Means Taken together, what Binance and Bitrue have each done this week reflects the same underlying conclusion: the demand for tokenized AI and technology stock assets is real, the infrastructure is ready, and the products being built on top of it are beginning to do things that traditional finance simply can’t match. Two major exchanges arriving at the same market in the same week isn’t coincidence, it’s an industry converging on what the data has been pointing to for some time.
About Bitrue Launched in July 2018, Bitrue is a global crypto exchange offering diversified digital financial services across spot trading, futures, OTC, staking, copy trading, and alpha trading. The platform supports over 700 cryptocurrencies and ranks among the top exchanges globally for XRP trading volume, with staking and investment products offering annualized rates of up to 30%.
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Bitcoin is trading at $59,101 on June 30, 2026 — the final day of the worst month of the current correction cycle — as the Fear & Greed Index reads 15, a marginal recovery from yesterday’s absolute cycle low of 12. Total crypto market cap holds near $2.07 trillion. The defining story of the day is the sharp divergence within the top 10: Solana and Hyperliquid are posting strong weekly gains while Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, BNB, and Dogecoin all remain in negative territory for the week, with Dogecoin down a brutal 9.43%.
Key Takeaways Bitcoin at $59,101, down 0.26% on the day and 5.33% on the week, closing out June’s worst monthly performance of the cycle Fear & Greed Index at 15 — up slightly from yesterday’s cycle-low 12, but still firmly in Extreme Fear; last month was 28 (Fear) Solana is the standout performer: +6.19% weekly, the only top-10 asset with strong positive momentum across both 24h and 7d Hyperliquid (+4.35% weekly) is the second-best performer, both assets benefiting from idiosyncratic strength rather than broad market recovery Dogecoin down 9.43% weekly — the worst performer in the top 10 by a wide margin Ethereum down just 0.46% on the day despite Foundation restructuring and ETF outflow headlines XRP down 6.27% weekly as CLARITY Act odds fell to 42% and Senate entered recess until July 13 TRON’s defensive characteristics weakened into month-end, down 3.74% weekly — still better than BTC, ETH, XRP, BNB AssetPrice24h7dMarket CapVolume (24h)Bitcoin (BTC)$59,101.69–0.26%–5.33%$1.18T$31.35BEthereum (ETH)$1,575.63–0.46%–4.98%$190.15B$11.72BTether (USDT)$0.9984–0.01%–0.03%$184.7B$70.52BBNB$547.09–0.29%–4.54%$73.73B$1.15BUSDC$0.99960.00%0.00%$73.61B$13.24BXRP$1.03–0.30%–6.27%$64.61B$1.58BSolana (SOL)$73.39–0.26%+6.19%$42.63B$3.85BTRON (TRX)$0.3171–0.10%–3.74%$30.08B$638.95MHyperliquid (HYPE)$65.83–0.12%+4.35%$16.65B$659.81MDogecoin (DOGE)$0.07192–0.67%–9.43%$12.26B$638.58M Fear & Greed at 15: Recovering From the Cycle’s Darkest Reading The Fear & Greed Index printed 15 on June 30, an improvement from yesterday’s reading of 12 — the deepest Extreme Fear of the entire 2026 correction cycle. The four-day trajectory tells the story: last month was 28 (Fear), last week 23 (Extreme Fear), yesterday 12 (cycle low), today 15. The slight uptick from 12 to 15 is the first sentiment improvement seen in over a week, though the index remains firmly in Extreme Fear territory.
This sentiment pattern — sustained readings below 20 for multiple consecutive days, including the deepest point of the entire cycle — has historically been associated with periods that precede meaningful relief rallies, though the timing and magnitude of any recovery remain uncertain. The next update arrives within 24 hours and will be the first reading of July, providing an early signal of whether the marginal improvement continues into the new month.
Bitcoin: Closing Out the Worst Month of the Cycle Bitcoin is trading at $59,101.69, down 0.26% on the day and 5.33% over the past week — a decline that caps what has been confirmed as the worst monthly performance of the entire 2026 correction. The 1-week chart shows BTC opened above $62,200 on June 24, dropped sharply to test the $59,000s through a volatile mid-week stretch, and has spent the final days of June grinding in a narrow range near $59,000–$60,000.
Volume at $31.35 billion is elevated (+44.14% versus the prior session per CoinMarketCap data), consistent with month-end institutional rebalancing rather than a fresh directional catalyst. With June closing near $59,000, the monthly candle confirms BTC’s deepest drawdown test of the year, though the price has avoided a clean breach of the May cycle low on a sustained closing basis. For the full BTC breakdown, see our Bitcoin news today page.
Solana: The Standout Performer of the Week Solana is the clear leader among major assets, up 6.19% over the past week to $73.39 even as it dipped slightly (–0.26%) on the day itself. The 1-week chart shows a powerful recovery structure: SOL bottomed near $66 around June 25–26 alongside the broader market selloff, then staged a sustained climb through $68, $70, and finally above $73 by June 30 — outperforming every other top-10 asset by a wide margin on the weekly timeframe.
Volume surged 54.41% to $3.85 billion, confirming institutional participation behind the move rather than thin, low-conviction trading. SOL’s relative strength reflects its faster recovery from the June 26 capitulation low compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum, combined with the ongoing Alpenglow upgrade narrative and continued real-world adoption momentum from partnerships announced earlier in the month.
Ethereum: Resilient Despite Foundation Restructuring Headlines Ethereum is down just 0.46% on the day to $1,575.63, holding up reasonably well despite a difficult news cycle that included the Ethereum Foundation’s confirmed 20% staff reduction and persistent spot ETF outflows. The 7-day loss of 4.98% is actually milder than Bitcoin’s 5.33% weekly decline — a notable shift after ETH had underperformed BTC for most of June.
Volume jumped 47.47% to $11.72 billion, the second-highest percentage volume increase in the top 10 after Solana. The relative stability suggests that the worst of the Foundation restructuring and ETF outflow narrative may already be priced in, with the market shifting attention toward whether ETH can build a base above $1,550 heading into July. For daily ETH coverage, see our Ethereum news today tracker.
XRP: Weakest Major Asset as CLARITY Act Odds Slide XRP is the weakest major asset on a weekly basis among BTC, ETH, BNB, and TRX, down 6.27% to $1.03 as CLARITY Act passage odds fell to 42% and the Senate entered recess until July 13. The 1-week chart shows the same pattern as Bitcoin and Ethereum — a sharp drop around June 25–26 followed by a choppy, directionless recovery attempt that has failed to reclaim the $1.06–$1.08 zone on a sustained basis.
Despite the price weakness, on-chain accumulation by large holders has continued throughout the drawdown, and some technical analysts have flagged early bullish reversal signals on the daily chart. Whether those signals translate into price action will likely depend heavily on developments around the CLARITY Act when the Senate returns from recess on July 13.
TRON: Defensive Edge Erodes Into Month-End TRON’s typically defensive profile weakened in the final week of June, with TRX down 3.74% to $0.3171 — still outperforming BTC, ETH, XRP, and BNB on the weekly timeframe, but a notably larger decline than the sub-1% losses TRX posted during earlier capitulation events in June. Volume rose 14.03% to $638.95 million.
The erosion in TRON’s relative strength suggests that sustained multi-week macro pressure is beginning to weigh on even utility-driven assets, though TRX’s structural demand base from USDT settlement remains intact heading into the MiCA enforcement window that opened July 1.
Hyperliquid: Quietly the Second-Best Performer Hyperliquid is up 4.35% over the past week to $65.83, the second-strongest performer in the top 10 after Solana. The 1-week chart shows a steady, low-volatility climb from the low $60s to nearly $66, with volume surging 72.35% to $659.69 million — the largest percentage volume increase of any asset in the top 10. HYPE’s continued strength reflects sustained demand for its on-chain perpetuals exchange, which has maintained robust trading volumes even as broader sentiment remained deeply negative.
Dogecoin: Worst Performer in the Top 10 Dogecoin is down 9.43% over the past week to $0.07192 — by far the weakest performer among major assets and nearly double the percentage decline of the next-worst performer, XRP. With no underlying utility catalyst, DOGE remains the purest sentiment proxy in the top 10, and its outsized weekly loss reflects just how compressed risk appetite has become during the depths of Extreme Fear.
What July Inherits From June June 2026 closes as the worst monthly stretch of the current crypto correction cycle, with Bitcoin down over 5% on the week and Ethereum facing both technical damage and structural organizational news from the Foundation restructuring. Yet the month also closes with two clear bright spots — Solana and Hyperliquid — both demonstrating that idiosyncratic strength is possible even within a broadly bearish macro environment.
The Fear & Greed Index’s modest recovery from 12 to 15 is the first sentiment improvement in over a week, and the path into July will be shaped by three factors: whether the CLARITY Act sees any progress when the Senate returns from recess on July 13, whether Bitcoin can hold the $59,000 zone on a sustained basis, and whether Ethereum’s relative stability this week marks a genuine bottoming process or merely a pause before further downside.
Merlijn says Garlinghouse should not be attacking Saylor since Ripple funds itself by selling XRP from escrow every month.
As more opinions on Strategy’s latest bitcoin (BTC) moves surface within the crypto community, trader Merlijn has countered Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s stance on the matter.
In a tweet addressing Garlinghouse’s remarks on Strategy’s recent BTC sale, Merlijn insisted that both Ripple and the business intelligence firm use the same funding models. In other words, the Ripple CEO is in no position to reprimand Strategy and Michael Saylor when they have similar approaches to the market.
Trader Challenges Garlinghouse’s Comments on Strategy Over the weekend, CryptoPotato reported that Garlinghouse said during an interview with CNBC that Strategy’s Bitcoin model is hurting the crypto market. The leading Bitcoin treasury firm broke its BTC purchase streak weeks ago and sold some part of its holdings. The move sparked an uproar in the market, as the company has been one of the major drivers of BTC demand.
Although Strategy subsequently resumed BTC purchases, that sale triggered a lot of criticism from big names and market experts. Garlinghouse was of the opinion that Saylor has not been focused on how to build a strategy around the right features of BTC. He said the company’s purchase model added some excitement as BTC rallied; however, the same approach is now compounding negatively as the asset declines.
To the Ripple CEO, Strategy has been using a leveraged purchase model through the company’s Stretch stock, STRC. With the stock trading 25% below its par price of $100, the market is beginning to witness how Strategy’s model compounds negatively when BTC corrects. Garlinghouse believes Strategy should focus on creating long-term value and utility, not financial engineering through its BTC funding model.
Two Giants, Same Model Although Merlijn believes Ripple CEO is right about STRC being in distress, the trader says Garlinghouse should not be attacking Saylor. Since Ripple funds itself by selling XRP from escrow every month, the company shares a similar model with Strategy.
In Merlijn’s eyes, Strategy and Ripple are just two giants with similar funding models that lean on the market they are defending. Since the funding models of both entities contribute to selling pressure for their individual assets, Merlijn sees no point in Garlinghouse’s criticism. It truly is quite ironic that Garlinghouse, who does not champion the “never sell your XRP” mantra, would reprimand Strategy for one bitcoin sale.
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XRP is holding above the key $1 support with modest gains, but it remains stuck in a range below resistance around $1.10.Network and fund data are improving, with daily active addresses up 72 percent in two weeks and XRP spot ETFs logging eight straight weeks of inflows.Leverage in XRP has reset sharply lower, cleaning up crowded long positions, yet the price is still trading below major moving averages and has not confirmed a recovery.XRP is no longer getting hit by the same crowded leverage that drove the selloff from its highs, but buyers still have not done enough to change the chart.
The token held above $1 and edged higher during the session, while network activity rose sharply and ETF inflows continued. That leaves traders watching whether improving usage and cleaner positioning can finally turn into a move back above $1.10.
News Background• XRP daily active addresses rose from 23,000 on June 14 to nearly 39,500 by June 27, a 72% increase in two weeks.
• Open interest across major exchanges fell below 150 million from a 1.3 billion peak, removing a large share of the leveraged positioning that had built up during XRP’s earlier rally.
• XRP spot ETFs recorded an eighth consecutive week of inflows, bringing cumulative inflows to $144.7 million despite broader weakness across crypto funds.
• XRP ETFs added $15.6 million in net inflows on June 26, while bitcoin ETFs saw $444.5 million in outflows and ether funds lost $12.9 million.
Price Action Summary• XRP rose from $1.0451 to $1.0544 during the 24-hour session, gaining 1.59%.
• The token traded in a $0.0435 range and continued to hold above the $1.00 psychological support level.
• The main burst of activity came on June 29 at 17:00, when volume reached 86.5 million XRP, about 67% above the 24-hour average.
• Price later consolidated between $1.03 and $1.06, leaving the market range-bound rather than in a confirmed recovery.
Technical Analysis• The key development is that XRP continues to defend $1.00 even after a 19% monthly decline.
• The leverage reset improves the setup. Open interest has fallen sharply, funding has turned negative and forced long liquidations have cleared out crowded positioning.
• The on-chain picture is stronger than the chart. Active addresses are rising, ETF inflows are continuing and exchange reserves remain stable, but price is still below major moving averages.
• XRP remains capped by resistance near $1.10, with larger barriers near the 50-day EMA around $1.20 and the 100-day EMA around $1.31.
• The 4-hour RSI has recovered from oversold territory to 46, but momentum remains below the neutral 50 level.
What traders should watch• $1.00 remains the key support level. A break below it would put $0.90-$0.87 back in focus.
• $1.06 is the first short-term resistance level, followed by $1.09-$1.10, where recent rallies have stalled.
• A reclaim of $1.20 would be the first real sign that XRP is shifting from support defense to recovery.
• Until XRP breaks above $1.10 or loses $1.00, the market remains a range trade with improving fundamentals but no confirmed technical turn.
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The Evolution of the Crypto CEX Landscape: A Case Study on Binance
The Evolution of the Crypto CEX Landscape: A Case Study on Binance
Binance remains crypto’s leading exchange, expanding from spot and derivatives into RWAs, payments, savings, yield, and broader financial services.
23 hours ago
Binance remains crypto’s leading exchange, expanding from spot and derivatives into RWAs, payments, savings, yield, and broader financial services.
Why it matters:
Binance remains crypto’s leading exchange, expanding from spot and derivatives into RWAs, payments, savings, yield, and broader financial services.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has publicly criticized Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin acquisition strategy at Strategy Inc. He argued that Strategy’s financial engineering has increased volatility and hurt the broader crypto market.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Slams Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin Funding Strategy Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse took to X and blamed Michael Saylor’s Strategy for the crypto market slump again. He also quoted that “Financial engineering doesn’t drive long-term value. utility does”
The post came shortly after a CNBC Squawk on the Street highlighted his interview comments. In the interview, Garlinghouse directly addressed Strategy’s Bitcoin funding approach under Executive Chairman Michael Saylor:
I think team Michael Saylor wasn’t focused on the right stuff, and that has hurt the overall market.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse claimed he is still bullish on Bitcoin. However, he slammed Strategy’s use of preferred stock issuance and other financing tools to aggressively accumulate Bitcoin as a form of leverage. He explained that it “added some excitement on the way up and now that’s compounding on the way down.”
Garlinghouse pointed to the sharp decline in STRC, Strategy’s perpetual preferred stock, below its $100 par value. However, STRC closed 12.20% higher at $83.67 after Michael Saylor’s Strategy announced digital credit repurchase, 12% dividend, and a $3.80 billion cash reserve plan.
Crypto Market Slump and Bitcoin Selling Pressure Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s comments came as Bitcoin fell below $60K while XRP faces a drop below $1 amid broader crypto market volatility. The next XRP support levels based on volume are $0.80, $0.62, and $0.51, as per on-chain data.
Meanwhile, Michael Saylor’s Strategy has announced Bitcoin Monetization Program to sell BTC to fund the USD Reserve, STRC dividend, and MSTR stock repurchase. This triggered a sharp 12.60% rebound in MSTR stock on Monday.
However, Bitcoin sales by Strategy may lead to a further drop in Bitcoin and a crypto market crash. Bitcoin analysts remain cautious as BTC is trading below the key 200-week moving average.
The crypto prices remain in a correction phase, with participants watching for signs of stabilization. Ripple CEO remarks spotlight headwinds for the cryptocurrency market, with the company focusing on building real-world utility to boost adoption for the next wave of bull market.
The XRP Ledger (XRPL) is moving toward a new phase focused on financing value, with a new native Lending Protocol entering the validator voting phase.
The protocol will provide crypto holders with yield and businesses with efficient access to capital.
Jasmine Cooper, head of product at RippleX, has noted that the infrastructure around tokenization has remained largely absent or fragmented.
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Separating underwriting from executionThe XRPL approach relies on institutions to handle credit assessments off-chain. This sets it apart from decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms that integrate underwriting directly into protocols.
The blockchain natively enforces the mechanics of repayment schedules, interest calculations, and default conditions based on the agreed-upon terms.
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Notably, Cooper agrees that execution does not necessarily have to be executed off-chain. "Over time, I’d love to see more of the lifecycle move on chain," she said.
Core components The proposed credit infrastructure consists of two complementary components: single asset vaults (XLS-65) for pooling and managing a single asset on the ledger and the lending protocol (XLS-66), which allows pooled liquidity from the vaults to be originated into fixed-term loans.
The protocol structures risk by supporting first-loss capital at the facility level. This means pool administrators or underwriters put junior capital at risk.
The system targets practical working capital use cases for institutions. For instance, a payment provider waiting for cross-border settlement to close could access a short-term working capital facility against expected inflows instead of drawing on more expensive traditional bank credit lines.
XRPL aims to offer institutions the liquidity and distribution benefits of a public blockchain combined with strict regulatory compliance.
The XLS-65 and XLS-66 proposals are currently subject to approval by XRPL validators. If approved, the native credit layer will become available on the mainnet.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has renewed his criticism of leverage-driven crypto strategies, saying long-term value in digital assets comes from real-world utility rather than financial engineering.
In a post on X, Garlinghouse wrote, “Financial engineering doesn’t drive long-term value. Utility does,” while reacting to a clip from his recent CNBC interview in which he criticised Strategy’s approach to Bitcoin accumulation.
The comment comes as crypto markets remain under pressure following Bitcoin’s recent correction and concerns around leveraged exposure across the industry.
Garlinghouse Targets Strategy’s Bitcoin ApproachDuring the CNBC interview, Garlinghouse argued that Strategy’s aggressive use of leverage has contributed to recent market volatility.
“I think team Michael Saylor wasn’t focused on the right stuff, and that has hurt the overall market,” he said.
According to Garlinghouse, borrowing heavily to acquire Bitcoin boosted prices during the bull market but has amplified downside risks as market conditions weakened. He also pointed to Strategy’s preferred stock, STRC, which has fallen well below its issue price, as evidence that leverage can quickly become a liability.
Despite the criticism, Garlinghouse stressed that his comments were directed at Strategy’s capital allocation strategy rather than Bitcoin itself.
Utility, Not LeverageGarlinghouse reiterated that cryptocurrencies derive lasting value only when they solve real-world problems.
He said assets with genuine use cases create sustainable demand, liquidity and long-term adoption, whereas financial engineering simply increases risk without improving the underlying value proposition.
The Ripple chief added that he has maintained the same view for years, arguing that speculation alone cannot support long-term growth in the digital asset market.
Bitcoin And Ripple Have Different RolesWhile remaining bullish on Bitcoin, Garlinghouse described it as evolving into “digital gold,” highlighting how blockchain enables large-value transfers far more efficiently than moving physical gold.
He also pointed to Ripple’s payments business as an example of blockchain utility. The company processed around $16 trillion in payments last year, though Garlinghouse acknowledged that only a small portion currently settles using digital assets.
He said the long-term opportunity lies in bringing traditional financial infrastructure onto blockchain networks rather than relying on leveraged investment strategies to lift crypto prices.
Story Ends Here
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Key Takeaways XRP currently hovers around $1.05, maintaining stability above the critical $1 threshold following a June 25 dip to $1.01—the lowest level in 19 months. Tokens flowing out of exchanges increased dramatically, jumping from 40.7 million to approximately 123 million XRP within days, suggesting potential accumulation by holders. Spot XRP ETFs recorded their eighth consecutive week of positive inflows, bringing total cumulative inflows to approximately $1.47 billion. Network engagement surged with daily active addresses climbing 72% over a two-week period, moving from 23,000 to nearly 39,500. Derivatives open interest contracted sharply from 1.3 billion to under 150 million, indicating a significant deleveraging event. XRP maintains its position around the $1.05 level following a challenging June performance. The digital asset touched approximately $1.01 on June 25, marking its lowest valuation in 19 months, yet purchasing pressure has successfully defended the psychologically important $1.00 threshold in subsequent trading sessions.
XRP Price While price action has remained subdued, the underlying XRP Ledger has demonstrated notable vitality. The blockchain recorded 4,941 newly created wallets within a 24-hour window, representing the most significant single-day expansion in wallet creation observed over the past three months.
Concurrently, daily active addresses have experienced substantial growth. The metric expanded from approximately 23,000 on June 14 to nearly 39,500 by June 27, reflecting a 72% increase within a fortnight.
Token Movement and Institutional Capital Flow Blockchain analytics reveal an accelerating trend of tokens being withdrawn from centralized exchanges. The exchange net position change metric shifted from roughly 40.7 million XRP on June 22 to approximately 123 million XRP several days afterward, representing an increase of nearly 200%.
Source: Glassnode Such withdrawal patterns typically indicate that holders are moving assets into self-custody rather than positioning for immediate sales. Meanwhile, institutional appetite for XRP exposure continues unabated.
Spot XRP exchange-traded funds have maintained positive net inflows for eight consecutive weeks. Total cumulative inflows now approach $1.47 billion, with an additional $22.99 million recorded during the week ending June 26.
Notably, on June 26, XRP-focused ETFs attracted $15.6 million in capital while bitcoin-based products experienced $444.5 million in withdrawals and ethereum funds recorded $12.9 million in outflows.
The derivatives market has undergone significant consolidation. Open interest across primary trading venues declined from a peak exceeding 1.3 billion to beneath 150 million, eliminating substantial speculative positioning that accumulated during XRP’s previous upward movement.
Market intelligence firm Santiment Intelligence highlighted this divergence between price weakness and growing network participation in a recent analysis. The firm observed that new wallet creation and optimistic market sentiment are materializing even as price threatens the $1 level, with sentiment analysis revealing 3.7 positive comments for each negative one—the highest ratio in three months.
✍️ TL;DR: XRP’s massive new wallet creations & FOMO emerge in midst of price threatening to drop below $1
📊 Metrics used: Network Growth, Pos/Neg Social Ratio
🔗 Link to chart: https://t.co/0WJTZI6VSS
📉 $XRP is still hanging on to the $1.00 support zone, trading around ~$1.04… pic.twitter.com/41bd8NqCQJ
— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) June 30, 2026
Critical Technical Zones Under Observation XRP has remained confined within a descending price channel throughout the past year. The 20-period exponential moving average, which tracks near-term momentum, currently aligns with the upper boundary of this channel in the $1.18 to $1.22 range.
Source: TradingView This region also coincides with a Fibonacci retracement level at $1.178 and a concentration of approximately 22.8 million XRP in cost basis distribution between $1.18 and $1.19. An additional 27.4 million XRP are positioned between $1.21 and $1.22.
These price zones represent areas where previous purchasers may attempt to exit positions at breakeven, establishing resistance. A decisive move above $1.18 followed by $1.22 would push XRP beyond its established downtrend into more neutral technical territory.
For downside protection, immediate support is established near $1.02. A violation of this level could potentially trigger a decline toward $0.87, according to Fibonacci extension analysis.
In the near term, market participants are monitoring $1.06 as initial resistance, followed by the $1.09 to $1.10 zone where previous recovery attempts have encountered selling pressure. A sustained move above $1.20 would represent the first meaningful indication of a potential trend reversal.
The 4-hour relative strength index has recovered to 46 after entering oversold territory, though it remains below the neutral 50 threshold. Price action recently consolidated within a $1.03 to $1.06 range, with peak trading volume occurring on June 29 at 17:00 UTC when 86.5 million XRP were exchanged.
30 June 2026 | 09:59 XRP is consolidating after a hard fall, and its derivatives market has quietly gone calm. Price sits at $1.0479 at the time of writing, down 5.6% for the week, having dropped from the $1.25 area through $1 in June.
Key Takeaways XRP trades at $1.0479 after a June collapse from $1.25 to a $1.007 low. All three moving averages sit above price and are declining. Open interest broke structurally lower in October 2025 and stays compressed. The turnover ratio at 0.71 points to subdued speculative churn. Underneath that, leverage and turnover have both thinned out. The combination describes a market that has de-risked, which is not the same as one turning bullish.
The June Collapse and Where Price Sits XRP has been in a downtrend since the 2026 hight of $2.4 reached in january, and June was the sharpest leg. The decline came in steps: sharp red candles from $1.30 to $1.16, a mid-month bounce back to $1.30, then a second leg that broke below $1.10 and bottomed at $1.007 on June 26. The last several candles have compressed tightly between $1.04 and $1.07, the first real consolidation after weeks of one-way selling. Volume on the down-legs ran heavier than on the bounce attempts, which says the selling carried more conviction than the recovery bids.
XRP daily price chart showing ongoing bearish consolidation. The Structure Is Still Bearish The moving averages leave no ambiguity on the TradingView chart. The 50-day sits at $1.2287, the 100-day at $1.3075, and the 200-day at $1.4986, all above price, all declining, with the 200-day sloping down most steeply into July. Price is roughly $0.18 below the 50-day and nearly $0.45 below the 200-day, a wide bearish gap with no convergence.
RSI tells the one less-bearish part. It bottomed near an extreme oversold reading around 20 in early June, then recovered to the current 33.30, with the signal line at 36.39. That’s momentum lifting off the low, but still well below the neutral 50 zone, recovered, not reversed.
Open Interest Broke Lower and Stayed There The derivatives side is where the structural story sits. Open interest shows two clear regimes. From roughly May to September 2025 it ran consistently above 800M and peaked over 1.2B. Then, around October 2025, it broke sharply lower and has stayed compressed in the 300M to 500M range ever since, including the current June 2026 reading.\
Binance XRP open interest and turnover ratio showing reduced speculative activity. This looks like a permanent regime shift rather than a temporary dip. Current OI sits comfortably inside that lower post-October range, not testing the bottom of it. Less open interest means fewer leveraged bets are on the table than during the mid-2025 peak.
What the 0.71 Turnover Ratio Means The Open Interest Turnover Ratio is influenced by short-term spikes rather than sustained trends. This indicator measures the ratio of daily futures trading volume to the total open interest (OI) in the market. In practice, it shows how quickly traders’ positions are replaced (“turned over”) within a 24-hour period. A ratio below 1 indicates that capital is more stable and positions are held for longer, while a high ratio signals that market participants are opening and closing their positions extremely aggressively and quickly.
Historically, the XRP market has seen one-day spikes to 4 or higher (as in February 2026), meaning that on those days, the entire available volume of positions was rolled over four times under the pressure of high volatility. Apart from these isolated instances, however, the baseline typically remains below 1.5, which corresponds to the current value of 0.71.
Two things follow. A low, stable turnover ratio alongside compressed OI means reduced speculative churn, fewer fresh leveraged bets, and existing positions turning over less aggressively. And the historical 4+ spikes aren’t predictive on their own, they’re coincident with volatility events that already happened, the same sharp directional candles visible on the price chart. They mark moves, they don’t forecast them.
Put the two sides together. The price chart shows a market that fell hard through June and is now consolidating with RSI recovering off oversold. The derivatives chart shows subdued leverage and low turnover. Together, that’s a market that has been de-risked through the decline: the aggressive positioning of mid-2025 isn’t here anymore, which removes one source of amplified volatility but says nothing about direction on its own. The moving-average structure remains firmly bearish regardless of the calmer derivatives backdrop.
The levels frame the range. Immediate support sits at $1.04, the bottom of the current consolidation, with the $1 psychological level and the $1.007 June low as the floor beneath it, the zone price clawed back above after the selloff. On the upside, $1.07 caps the current range as immediate resistance, and the real test is far higher: the declining 50-day SMA at $1.2287, with $1.30 marking where June’s bounce attempts failed. Reclaiming the 50-day is what it would take to challenge the downtrend; until then, rallies sit below a falling average.
So the accurate read isn’t bullish or bearish from the derivatives, it’s that the amplification mechanism for the next move is currently muted. The signal worth watching is the turnover ratio and open interest rising together. That combination could mark fresh speculative capital entering, the condition that has historically preceded larger directional moves. It isn’t present now. Until it is, the calm in derivatives is just calm, not a setup.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Consult a professional before making investment decisions.
Author
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
XRP price traded near $1.05 on June 30 as buyers continued to defend the $1 support area.
Summary
XRP remains near $1.05 as traders watch whether $1 support can hold through June selling. Santiment data shows 4,941 new wallets, while bullish social comments reached three-month highs this week. Lower Binance XRP open interest suggests slower speculation, but price still lacks breakout confirmation. Crypto.news price data showed XRP at $1.05, with the token almost flat over 24 hours and down more than 6% over seven days. The same data placed 24-hour volume at about $1.56 billion and market capitalization near $65.24 billion.
The current range remains narrow. XRP moved between $1.04 and $1.07 over the last 24 hours, keeping the market close to the same support zone that traders have watched since the June selloff. Crypto.news data also showed XRP down about 22% over 30 days and more than 48% over 200 days, showing that the latest hold above $1 has not yet changed the broader downtrend.
XRP had already been trading near $1.05 after a weak month, with buyers watching the $1 level as the main short-term line. XRP needed a stronger move above $1.12 and then $1.27 before traders could argue that momentum had shifted back toward buyers.
New XRP wallets jump as sentiment improves Santiment data cited in market updates showed the XRP Ledger added 4,941 new wallets in one day, marking its strongest network growth reading in more than three months. The jump came as XRP traded close to the $1 to $1.05 range, a zone that many traders now treat as a possible dip-buy area.
✍️ TL;DR: XRP’s massive new wallet creations & FOMO emerge in midst of price threatening to drop below $1
📊 Metrics used: Network Growth, Pos/Neg Social Ratio
🔗 Link to chart: https://t.co/0WJTZI6VSS
📉 $XRP is still hanging on to the $1.00 support zone, trading around ~$1.04… pic.twitter.com/41bd8NqCQJ
— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) June 30, 2026 Social sentiment also moved higher. Santiment reported a ratio of 3.7 bullish comments for every bearish comment, also a three-month high. The firm said XRP was “still hanging on to the $1.00 support zone,” but warned that traders still need to see whether new wallet growth turns into real demand rather than short-term FOMO.
The shift follows a period of weak sentiment earlier in June. Santiment previously said XRP sentiment had fallen to its lowest level since October 2025, as traders grew tired of weak price action and limited new catalysts. That earlier reading gave a contrast to the latest FOMO spike, where social optimism has recovered before price has confirmed a breakout.
Binance XRP leverage cools down CryptoQuant analyst Arab Chain said Binance XRP derivatives activity now looks calmer after a sharp drop from previous highs. The analyst said Binance XRP open interest stood near 375.56 million XRP, while the Open Interest Turnover Ratio held near 0.71, pointing to slower short-term speculation.
XRP Open Interest Turnover Ratio, Source: CryptoQuant analyst Arab Chain That reading followed a larger reset from the second half of 2025, when XRP open interest topped 1.3 billion XRP before falling and stabilizing near 400 million XRP. Arab Chain said the lower ratio and reduced open interest suggest traders have become more cautious about opening new positions.
XRP active addresses rose from 23,000 on June 14 to nearly 39,500 by June 27, a 72% increase in two weeks. Open interest across major exchanges fell sharply from a 1.3 billion peak, reducing the crowded leverage that had helped drive earlier selling pressure.
Network activity on $XRP has surged over the past two weeks.
Daily active addresses have climbed from 23,000 on June 14 to nearly 39,500 today, signaling growing on-chain participation. pic.twitter.com/lqX9oo3AsS
— Ali Charts (@alicharts) June 28, 2026 A calmer derivatives market can reduce forced selling, but it does not guarantee a recovery. Arab Chain noted that a sudden rise in the turnover ratio, especially if it comes with higher open interest, could signal renewed speculative activity and more volatility.
XRP activity grows while recovery remains unconfirmed The XRP Ledger has shown stronger network use even while the token price remains under pressure. As reported by crypto.news, Messari’s State of XRP Q1 2026 report showed average daily XRPL transactions rose 35.3% quarter over quarter to 2.48 million, even as XRP price fell 27.1% during the same period.
The same report said RLUSD reached a $340.3 million market cap on XRPL by the end of Q1, making it the network’s largest stablecoin. XRPL’s real-world asset market cap also rose 124.1% quarter over quarter to $2.25 billion, showing that network activity and token price have not moved in the same direction this year.
ETF flows also remain part of the XRP market story. As reported by crypto.news, XRP products posted repeated inflows while Bitcoin and Ethereum funds faced outflows during the same period. That demand may help slow selling near $1, but the earlier report noted that it had not yet been enough to push XRP into a confirmed recovery.
For now, XRP sits between improving network signals and weak price structure. Wallet creation, active addresses, fund flows and lower leverage give traders more data to watch. The next test remains simple: XRP needs to hold $1 and reclaim nearby resistance before the market can treat the rebound as more than a defensive move.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
The $XRP Ledger Foundation has announced a partnership with VS1 Finance to develop an open-source reference application for permissioned, compliant lending on the XRP Ledger, marking a concrete step in the network's push toward regulated institutional finance.
Building on Native XRPL InfrastructureRather than introducing new protocol features, the application combines existing XRP Ledger primitives into a practical lending workflow. Specifically, the app uses several native XRP Ledger building blocks designed for regulated financial activity, including Credentials, Permissioned Domains, Single Asset Vaults, and the Lending Protocol.
Permissioned Domains are controlled environments within the broader XRP Ledger ecosystem. Features such as Permissioned DEXes and Lending Protocols can use these domains to restrict and manage access, so traditional financial institutions can offer services on-chain while complying with various compliance rules. Meanwhile, a Single Asset Vault is an XRP Ledger primitive that aggregates assets from multiple depositors and makes them available to other on-chain protocols, such as the Lending Protocol.
A key feature of the project is its rejection of external add-ons. Instead of using external smart contracts, which are vulnerable to hacks, the app is built from native primitives embedded directly into the XRP Ledger protocol.
An Open Framework for InstitutionsThe application will serve as an open-source reference implementation rather than a closed commercial product, allowing developers to examine its architecture and adapt it for their own use cases. The partners are not creating an isolated commercial product. Instead, they are releasing an open-source project, meaning any team or financial institution will be able to fork, study, or expand the code for integration into their own services.
The announcement came just days after VS1 Finance joined Ripple's UDAX accelerator on June 25, a program focused on developing on-chain capital markets. The software development also coincides with VS1 Finance's own preparation to issue tokenized corporate bonds within the regulatory sandbox of the National Bank of Georgia.
The move reflects a broader industry trend in which blockchain developers are increasingly focusing on regulated financial products tailored to banks, asset managers, and enterprise users, rather than purely permissionless retail applications. RippleX has noted that several institutional participants, including Evernorth, SOIL, and VS1 Finance, are already preparing to build on top of the Single Asset Vault and Lending Protocol.
Sources:
Blockonomi: XRP Ledger Foundation and VS1 Finance Launch Compliant Lending App for XRPL
XRPL.org: Single Asset Vaults
Crypto Times: XRP Ledger Pushes Deeper Into Institutional Finance With VS1
Cover image via depositphotos.com Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.
One of the biggest tests XRP has ever faced is currently underway. The asset has entered a zone where market participants are divided between anticipating another breakdown and getting ready for a significant rebound after falling toward the psychologically significant $1.00 level. Surprisingly, on-chain and social metrics are starting to paint a different picture while price action is still weak.
Network is not resting in one placeThe XRP Ledger recorded 4,941 newly created wallets in a single day, according to recent data, which is the biggest network growth spike in over three months. After hitting a 19-month low near $1.01 on June 25, XRP is currently trading around $1.04 and is perilously close to losing the $1 support level. Extreme pessimism has historically frequently accompanied the emergence of new cryptocurrency users.
XRP/USDT Chart by TradingViewAlthough the creation of new wallets does not always result in immediate buying pressure, it does signal an increase in ecosystem interest. The fact that this spike happened at a time when many investors were doubting XRP's capacity to maintain its long-term support zone makes it especially notable. The picture painted by social sentiment metrics is equally fascinating. With roughly 3.7 bullish remarks for every bearish one, positive commentary about XRP has reached its peak in about three months.
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Why is FOMO here?Despite XRP's underwhelming performance over the past few months, this ratio implies that FOMO, or the fear of missing out, has returned to the market. This renewed optimism is being driven by a number of factors. Many investors cite XRP's track record of producing strong recoveries following protracted periods of weakness, traders are still speculating about potential ETF-related developments, and institutional adoption narratives remain active.
Furthermore, instead of drastically lowering their exposure during the recent decline, large holders have typically held onto their positions. However, a recovery cannot be sustained by optimism alone. The question for now is whether the surge of new wallets represents an actual inflow of capital into the ecosystem or is merely an emotional response from retail participants reacting to a perceived discount.
The current crash scare may eventually strengthen the network if XRP can sustain support above $1 and turn this surge of interest into ongoing buying activity. If not, the recent spike in wallet creation and the optimistic outlook might turn out to be nothing more than a brief surge in speculation prior to another leg down.
The XRP Ledger recorded its strongest network growth in over three months.
XRP is continuing to hold above the crucial $1.00 support level, trading near $1.04 after falling to a 19-month low of around $1.01 on June 25.
Despite the recent price weakness, Santiment found that interest in the XRP Ledger has remained strong.
FOMO Returns According to the latest data, the XRP Ledger recorded 4,941 new wallet creations in a single day, which is its highest level of network growth in more than three months. This suggests that new users are entering the ecosystem at a time when XRP’s price is under pressure, the analytics firm explained.
At the same time, social sentiment has turned increasingly optimistic. Santiment’s data reveal there are now 3.7 bullish comments for every bearish comment, the highest positive-to-negative ratio in three months. As such, many traders are treating the $1.00-$1.05 range as a dip-buying opportunity, which reflects growing fear of missing out (FOMO).
The firm said this optimism is partly driven by XRP’s history of rebounding after sharp declines, ongoing discussions around ETFs and institutional adoption, and the view that larger holders have continued accumulating during the downturn. Santiment added that it remains important to see whether the surge in new wallets develops into steady buying demand or proves to be only short-term FOMO.
Separate data from CryptoQuant showed that whale activity is becoming more prominent across centralized exchanges overall, but less concentrated on Binance. It found that whales are increasingly spreading their activity across multiple trading platforms.
Institutional Demand Even as the price continues to struggle, XRP investment products have managed to attract fresh capital. US-based spot XRP ETFs attracted $15.34 million in net inflows on June 29. The Bitwise XRP ETF accounted for the largest share at $11.94 million, followed by Canary XRPC at $3.40 million.
You may also like: Crypto Analyst Challenges Ripple’s CEO Take on Strategy: ‘Two Giants, Same Model’ XRP Whales Are Moving On, and Binance Is No Longer Their Top Choice Everyone Expects XRP to Crash Further: Is Ripple About to Surprise the Market? June’s total has now surpassed $62 million, bringing cumulative net inflows across all the spot XRP ETFs to $1.48 billion, according to data compiled by SoSoValue.
The XRP Ledger is moving closer to a native credit layer after RippleX said the XRPL Lending Protocol has entered validator voting.
Summary
XRPL’s lending vote could add native credit markets without relying on outside smart contracts. The protocol separates off-chain credit checks from on-chain repayment, interest and default execution. RippleX says the design targets institutions needing compliant liquidity, working capital and asset financing. Jasmine Cooper, head of product at RippleX, said the network has already evolved through core stages of representing value, moving value and trading value. The next step, she wrote, is to “finance value.”
Ripple’s June 29 post frames credit as the missing layer for on-chain capital markets. The company said tokenized assets can now exist and move on-chain, but many markets still lack tools for borrowing, lending, collateral use and short-term liquidity. The XRPL Lending Protocol is designed to address that gap through protocol-level lending rather than a separate application.
Introducing a new financial primitive to XRPL: Credit (now in voting).
We've spent the last few years evolving the XRPL stack:
— Jazzi Cooper (@jazzicoop) June 29, 2026 Lending design separates credit checks The proposed system keeps credit judgment off-chain and execution on-chain. Ripple said institutions would continue handling underwriting, legal review, credit risk and compliance checks outside the blockchain. Once loan terms are agreed, the XRP Ledger would enforce repayment schedules, interest calculations and default rules.
This design differs from many DeFi lending systems, where risk rules and liquidation logic sit directly inside app-level contracts. Ripple said a blockchain should not replace credit teams or legal processes, but it can standardize what happens after a loan agreement is made. The company wrote that the protocol can manage how liquidity is pooled, how loans start, how interest builds and how defaults are processed.
Vaults and loans form core system The lending framework has two main components. Single Asset Vaults, or XLS-65, pool and manage one asset on the ledger. The Lending Protocol, or XLS-66, then allows that pooled liquidity to move into fixed-term loans with defined servicing and repayment terms.
Ripple’s open-source documentation describes XLS-66 as a lending primitive for on-chain, fixed-term, uncollateralized loans funded from Single Asset Vaults. The same documentation says the system relies on off-chain underwriting and risk management, while offering configurable peer-to-peer loans without banks or other traditional intermediaries.
The protocol also uses compliance controls. Ripple said lenders and borrowers would complete checks before joining pools, and verifiable credentials would decide who can take part and under what conditions. That setup aims to support public blockchain access while giving institutions permissioned controls.
Mainnet launch still needs approval The proposals are not live on mainnet yet. Ripple said XLS-65 and XLS-66 remain subject to validator approval, while infrastructure providers and developers can already test the lending system on devnet.
As reported by crypto.news, XLS-66 entered validator voting on Jan. 28 after XRPL version 3.1.0, alongside the companion XLS-65 proposal. The report said the change would build fixed-term, fixed-rate lending directly into the XRP Ledger without relying on external smart contracts.
Security work has also continued before possible activation. As reported by crypto.news, RippleX developers worked with Common Prefix on formal verification for the lending code, aiming to catch edge cases that normal testing may miss. Halborn later completed a re-audit of the lending protocol and found no critical or high-risk flaws.
The lending vote comes as builders prepare products around the proposed framework. As reported by crypto.news, SOIL has said it wants to become one of the first applications to use XRPL’s native lending infrastructure if validators approve the amendments. That would make the vote important not only for core protocol design, but also for future lending, yield and working capital tools on XRPL.
While everyone is waiting for the CLARITY Act to become law, Crypto Researcher Crypto Crusader believes that people are missing the big picture behind Ripple XRP right now. He says, Ripple is already securing regulatory approvals, forming global partnerships, and preparing major industry events to expand XRP across the global market.
Ripple Builds Global Presence Before CLARITY Act VoteRipple currently holds over 75 regulatory licenses and registrations worldwide and partnerships across Europe, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, the UAE, Singapore, Africa, and the United States.
Meanwhile, Ripple XRP isn’t just waiting for the Clarity Act to get approved, Crusader says it is already taking major steps to expand globally.
“Most people just see Ripple getting a regulatory green light, but what I see is Ripple planting seeds for institutional adoption of XRP in global markets right before CLARITY hits.”
Along with this, Ripple is preparing for one of its biggest events yet. Ripple Swell 2026 and the XRPL Apex Developer Summit will be held together from October 27-29 in New York.
The combined event is expected to bring together major banks, fintech firms, developers, and blockchain companies, increasing expectations for new partnerships and product announcements that could boost XRP adoption.
Ripple Already Has CLARITY, Industry Needs ItThe proposed crypto market structure bill (CLARITY Act) aims to establish clear rules defining which digital assets qualify as securities and which do not, something the crypto industry has fought for years.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently said XRP itself already achieved legal clarity after Ripple’s court victory against the SEC. But the industry does not have it.
“For the industry to really move forward in the United States, you need something like the CLARITY Act to make it clear about other digital assets not being securities.”
Even Crusader says that,
“Once Clarity is passed, there is absolutely nothing holding back Ripple & XRP adoption.” “The infrastructure is already approved, regulated, and primed for mass institutional-grade adoption.”
Clarity Act: All Eyes On July 13As of now, the Senate is currently in recess until July 13, with lawmakers working on final revisions. A Senate vote is expected in late July or early August, although the bill still requires 60 votes, including support from at least seven Democrats.
However, missing the August congressional recess could delay the legislation until next year.
As of now, XRP is trading around $1.04, reflecting a drop of 6% in a week. While XRP price is still about 72.7% below its 2018 all-time high of $3.84.
XRP support says that regulatory clarity, combined with Ripple’s expanding global infrastructure, could become the catalyst that finally unlocks the next stage of institutional XRP adoption.
Story Ends Here
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A significant development has taken place in the United States financial system regarding post-trade infrastructure. The National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC), part of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, has launched 24-hour clearing services, five days a week, for US equities. This effectively provides an almost continuous post-trade structure for transactions taking place beyond traditional market hours.
A new era in post-trade processingThis initiative is noteworthy for its role in enabling extended trading hours from a technical perspective. In securities trading, successful completion of a transaction requires matching, clearing, and risk controls prior to settlement. When these processes are not operating near-continuously, longer trading hours can create operational bottlenecks.
The NSCC’s 24×5 clearing model is designed to address this problem. By extending post-trade services to a broader time window in the US equities market, it helps meet the needs of global investors seeking increased access and flexibility beyond traditional trading hours.
The NSCC’s 24×5 clearing service enables near-continuous matching, clearing, and risk management for trades executed outside regular market sessions.
Leading industry institutions such as Nasdaq, Cboe, MEMX, OTC Markets, Instinet, Apex Fintech, Blue Ocean Technologies, and Bruce Markets have voiced support for this change. Their backing reflects the growing demand among market participants for a flexible infrastructure capable of accommodating longer trading periods.
Why is Ripple Prime’s membership under scrutiny?Another key development centers on the position of Ripple Prime. Formerly known as Hidden Road, the firm became a direct member of the NSCC after being acquired by Ripple and rebranded as Ripple Prime. This membership provides the company with direct access to one of Wall Street’s essential post-trade clearing networks.
Operating at the intersection of traditional finance and blockchain-based infrastructure, Ripple Prime reportedly uses the XRP Ledger for its institutional over-the-counter trades and capital markets services. However, DTCC has not stated that XRPL or XRP is currently utilized for settlement in NSCC clearing processes.
Glossary: The NSCC plays a central role in the US by managing clearing and risk processes for securities transactions. “Clearing” refers to validating and netting trades between parties before they are settled.
This development is viewed as one of the signs that blockchain-focused firms are moving from the margins toward closer cooperation with core financial market infrastructure. Notably, this transformation is unfolding gradually, strengthening existing systems rather than replacing them overnight.
With global investors increasingly seeking access to US equities across different time zones and digital assets markets operating around the clock, traditional financial infrastructure is shifting toward a more interconnected and flexible model. NSCC’s new clearing structure and Ripple Prime’s expanding institutional role are the latest examples of this trend.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
XRP is down 6% on the weekly chart. Where will it stop?
Ripple (XRP) Price Predictions: Analysis Key support levels: $1
Key resistance levels: $1.3, $1.6, $2
XRP is Back at $1 Despite the best efforts from buyers, XRP has returned to the $1 support. This is the third time in the past two weeks that this cryptocurrency tested this level. This is somewhat bearish since bulls have failed to push the price away from the key support.
If seller pressure intensifies this week, then this support may eventually crack and turn into resistance. If so, buyers will most likely retreat to 80 cents, where the next major support level is found.
Source: TradingView Momentum Remains Bearish With clear lower highs and lower lows, XRP is in a bearish trend that is still to find a bottom. Because of this, the price has a good chance to drop lower in the coming weeks and turn $1 into resistance.
Moreover, the momentum indicators remain on the bearish side, with the 3-day RSI close to 30 points, which also indicates a bearish trend. As long as the RSI remains under 50, bears retain the upper hand.
Source: TradingView Weekly MACD About to do a Bearish Cross Another concerning signal can be seen on the weekly MACD. The moving averages are about to do a bearish cross. This would be the first time it happens in 2026, and if confirmed, it’s unlikely XRP will enter a recovery in the future.
Considering the above, the outlook for the second half of the year is negative, with lower lows likely. Best to wait for a bottom confirmation before considering an entry on XRP.
Ripple is expanding its presence and corporate relationships in Asia amid surging interest in blockchain-based payment infrastructures. As central banks, regulatory authorities, and major financial firms across the region increasingly turn to digital asset-focused payment solutions, Ripple’s profile and influence have become more visible than ever.
Digital currency conversations pick up speed in ThailandOne of the most significant examples of this trend is Thailand, where digital currency initiatives are accelerating. The Bank of Thailand is working towards launching a one-to-one baht-backed stablecoin by 2027. While it has not been confirmed that Ripple will provide the technology infrastructure for this project, the company has emerged as a key policy stakeholder in shaping Thailand’s digital currency agenda.
Ripple responded to the Bank of Thailand’s 2021 central bank digital currency (CBDC) discussion paper, highlighting the importance of interoperability with international payment standards to enable smoother cross-border transactions. The company also proposed a two-tier CBDC model in which the central bank issues the currency, while licensed financial institutions handle distribution and customer service.
Mini glossary: CBDC refers to digital forms of a central bank’s official currency. A stablecoin is a digital asset typically pegged to a fiat currency.
Additionally, Ripple has unveiled its CBDC platform built on the XRP Ledger, touting advantages for central banks such as faster settlement, reduced operating costs, greater scalability, and increased energy efficiency. The ongoing dialogue between Ripple and Thai central bank officials—inclusive of recent policy events held with TRM Labs—underscores the deepening engagement between the parties.
Ripple advocates for a CBDC model that is both interoperable with international payment standards and operates on two levels to ensure seamless cross-border transactions.
Japan emerges as a strategic hubRipple’s expansion in Asia is by no means limited to Thailand. The company has established partnerships with banks, payment service providers, and financial institutions across markets such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Regional government openness to CBDCs, tokenized assets, and blockchain-based payment networks is driving even greater value to Ripple’s growing ecosystem.
Japan stands out as a particularly strong strategic base for Ripple. The country’s financial giant SBI Holdings has long been a major investor in Ripple and has supported the company’s payment solutions across Asia. In a move that extends its influence further into the digital asset sector, the SBI Group recently agreed to acquire Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank in a deal valuing the company at $289 million. As a leading Japan-based finance conglomerate, SBI Holdings operates across banking, investment, and digital finance sectors.
RLUSD approval draws the spotlightRipple has made a noteworthy move in Japan’s stablecoin market as well. The company’s RLUSD stablecoin has become the first US dollar-pegged stablecoin to receive regulatory approval for domestic distribution in the country. This marks a pivotal milestone as Japan advances its framework for digital assets.
As Asian economies modernize their payment infrastructures, Ripple’s relationships with regulators, its network of corporate alliances, and its blockchain innovations strengthen its foothold in the region. The deepening ties in both Japan and Thailand suggest that Asia could emerge as Ripple’s most significant growth engine in the years ahead.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
The analysis of weekly flows on spot crypto index funds reveals an unprecedented fracture within the sector, challenging the idea of a monolithic institutional block. This data is important, because it shows that professional investors no longer blindly put their money into the two dominant assets, but are beginning to choose growth alternatives.
In brief Bitcoin ETFs record one of the largest waves of capital outflows in their history, driven by massive withdrawals at BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale. Ether funds extend their bad streak with a seventh consecutive week of outflows, revealing a sustained loss of confidence from institutional investors. HYPE and XRP ETFs attract new capital, illustrating a reorientation of flows towards assets considered more promising. This redistribution of investments reflects a sector rotation strategy rather than an institutional withdrawal from the crypto market, a sign of increasingly fine selection of opportunities. The great capital exodus outside Bitcoin funds The institutional financial vehicle segment of the market leader has just experienced a historic decline. For the week of June 22 to 26, 2026, spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced net outflows of 1.79 billion dollars. This massive disengagement represents the third highest week of net outflows in history. Such a liquidation movement shows that “the image of an inexhaustible institutional demand for bitcoin today faces continuous pressure”.
The financial purge peaked with BlackRock, whose IBIT fund lost 1.3 billion dollars. This movement extended systemically to all major facilitators in the U.S. market, with the sale of 314.9 million dollars from Fidelity’s FBTC fund and an outflow of 135.3 million dollars at Grayscale with GBTC.
The data consolidated by statistical tracking platforms confirm that selling pressure was widespread, leaving almost no respite for secondary traditional finance structures :
Managers on the front line : outflows hit Invesco’s BTCO fund for 53 million dollars, Ark & 21Shares’ ARKB for 37.8 million dollars, and Bitwise’s BITB for 34.6 million dollars ; Low-cost structures impacted : even competitive vehicles like VanEck’s HODL and Franklin’s EZBC recorded respective outflows of 6.4 million and 3.1 million dollars ; Derisory compensations : the rare inflows seen on Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust (+71.7 million $), Morgan Stanley’s MSBT (+26.2 million $), and WisdomTree’s BTCW (+3.4 million $) were not enough to reverse the negative trend set by BlackRock. Ether trapped in a systemic outflow spiral While the Bitcoin product sector plunged into the red, a distinct but equally concerning temporal and structural movement affected spot Ether ETFs. They experienced 273 million dollars of net outflows, extending a streak now lasting seven consecutive weeks of outflows for the category.
Day-to-day flow tracking reveals methodical erosion: Monday started with a decline of 66.38 million dollars on BlackRock’s ETHA, followed by Tuesday at minus 82.35 million dollars despite a rebound of 15.69 million dollars towards Fidelity’s FETH fund. On Wednesday, 30.24 million dollars evaporated with no recorded inflow, before Thursday and Friday sealed this weekly decline with respective outflows of 81.87 million and 12.85 million dollars, both driven by liquidations of the ETHA fund.
This prolonged distrust towards Ether is partly due to a technical repositioning of institutional portfolios that struggle to find a short-term growth catalyst on this asset. The daily arbitrages show mathematical regularity in selling, indicating investors are actively reducing their exposure to the historic smart contract network in favor of other opportunities. Unlike Bitcoin, which still benefits from some residual flows through private banks like Morgan Stanley, Ether suffers from an obvious lack of growth drivers among big brokers and undergoes pressure from continuous redemptions, with no other support than BlackRock’s product.
The unexpected surge of HYPE and XRP Conversely, this disaffection around these two major players did not cause a definitive rout outside the crypto ecosystem, but rather a redeployment of liquidity towards more attractive opportunities. Spot HYPE ETFs have established themselves as the indisputable stars of the market by capturing 111 million dollars of net inflows. Indeed, the scenario behind this performance is particular. After a flat week from Monday to Wednesday and modest gains of 1.46 million on Tuesday and 1.82 million on Friday, order books were flooded on Thursday with a large buying wave of 108.09 million dollars.
At the same time, XRP ETFs showed impressive consistency with 22.99 million dollars of net inflows, marked by an inflow of 5.31 million dollars on Monday via Bitwise, 2.05 million on Wednesday via Grayscale, and a final push on Friday of 15.63 million dollars. Solana, on the other hand, stayed out of this altcoins rally, with a net loss of 1.81 million dollars over the week.
Ultimately, the consolidated weekly balance closes with a decline of more than 2 billion USD for the dominant block. However, one cannot interpret these capital movements as a sign of a global disinterest from institutional investors in the Web3 universe. The market shows a new technical maturity: investors are not leaving crypto ETFs, but they are carrying out deep strategic and sectorial rotations.
This increased selectivity indicates that fund managers are now diversifying their backup portfolios by “rewarding products with clearer momentum and temporarily cutting their exposure where their conviction has weakened”. In the long run, this redistribution of financial flows could well mark the end of the systematic correlation between the bitcoin price and the performance of next-generation altcoins.
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Luc Jose A.
Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
TL;DR Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. recorded a $231 million net outflow, extending withdrawals to eight consecutive trading days. Spot Ethereum ETFs also remained under pressure, posting $30.043 million in net outflows on June 29. ARKB and BlackRock’s ETHA led their respective markets in single-day inflows despite the broader selling trend. June is on course to become the worst month for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs since their launch, with nearly $4 billion in cumulative outflows. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs extended their losing streak on June 29 after recording a combined net outflow of $231 million, while spot Ethereum ETFs posted $30.043 million in net withdrawals, according to SoSoValue data. The latest figures mark the eighth consecutive trading day of net outflows for both crypto investment products.
Despite the broader wave of withdrawals, some funds still attracted fresh capital. Ark Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB registered the largest single-day inflow among Bitcoin ETFs at $49.969 million, while BlackRock’s ETHA led Ethereum ETF inflows with $5.869 million. However, those gains were insufficient to offset heavier redemptions across the broader market.
Bitcoin Spot ETFs See $231 Million Outflow as Ether ETFs Lose $30 Million
According to SoSoValue data, on June 29 (Eastern Time), Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a total net outflow of USD 231 million, while Ark Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB saw the largest single-day net inflow at USD… pic.twitter.com/aTlpGB9mIM
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 30, 2026
The latest decline comes as June shapes up to be the weakest month for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs since they began trading in January 2024, with cumulative outflows nearing $4 billion.
ARKB and ETHA Defy Broader Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs Outflow Trend Although investor sentiment remained largely negative, ARKB and ETHA stood out by attracting fresh inflows while many competing funds continued to lose assets. Their positive performance suggests that some investors are still selectively allocating capital to crypto ETFs despite the broader market pullback.
However, the overall trend remains firmly negative. Bitcoin ETFs have now posted eight straight sessions of net redemptions, indicating a more prolonged period of selling than previous pullbacks as the Bitcoin price slips below $60,000. These are often followed by a quick rebound in demand. Ethereum ETFs have followed a similar path, with June largely characterized by persistent outflows after months of mixed fund flows.
According to on-chain data, from June 22 to June 26 (ET), spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of $1.79 billion. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net outflows of $273 million, marking seven consecutive weeks of outflows as institutional interest dwindles.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs Saw $1.79B in Net Outflows Last Week, Third-Highest Weekly Outflow on Record
From June 22 to June 26 (ET), spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of $1.79 billion, marking the third-highest weekly net outflow on record. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net outflows of… pic.twitter.com/6CDFFVY68L
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 29, 2026
Spot XRP ETFs recorded net inflows of $22.99 million, while spot HYPE ETFs saw net inflows of $111 million.
Macro Uncertainty Continues to Pressure Crypto ETFs Market observers attribute the sustained withdrawals largely to the current macroeconomic environment. Elevated interest rates have boosted the appeal of lower-risk assets such as government bonds and money market funds, prompting some institutional investors to scale back exposure to more volatile assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Investors are now closely watching upcoming economic data and any changes in U.S. Federal Reserve policy expectations, as shifts in the interest-rate outlook could influence capital flows into risk assets. Market participants will also be monitoring whether the current outflow streak finally comes to an end, as a return to sustained inflows could signal renewed confidence in the crypto ETF market.
According to SoSoValue data, total net assets held by U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs stood at approximately $73.19 billion following the latest trading session, highlighting that despite recent selling pressure, the products remain a major channel for institutional cryptocurrency investment.
Leading cryptocurrencies pared losses Monday, while stocks closed higher as investors priced in a further easing of tensions between the U.S. and Iran following weekend hostilities.
Crypto Market Recoups LossesBitcoin rose in the early trading hours, but failed to cross the $61,000 barrier. Trading volume surged 82% over the last 24 hours. Ethereum rallied in the afternoon, hitting a high of $1,633 intraday before slipping back below $1,600.
Over $300 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the last 24 hours, with short traders facing the majority of the losses, according to Coinglass data
Bitcoin’s open interest increased modestly by 0.80% over the last 24 hours. Interestingly, retail and whale derivatives traders on Binance lowered their long positions in the leading cryptocurrency.
"Extreme Fear" sentiment prevailed in the market, according to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.
Top Gainers (24 Hours)
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.2 trillion, following a dip of 0.79% over the last 24 hours.
Stocks Rally Ahead Of Doha MeetingStocks started the new trading week on a high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 306.63 points, or 0.59%, ending at 52,182.74. The S&P 500 lifted 1.18% to close at 7,440.43, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2.07% to settle at 25,820.14.
President Donald Trump said that a meeting with Iran is scheduled for Tuesday in Doha, Qatar. The discussions are reportedly aimed at managing the Strait of Hormuz and reducing tensions after weekend exchanges of attacks between the two sides.
Where Is Bitcoin Headed?On-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant noted that Bitcoin’s Long Term Holder Spent Output Profit Ratio was approaching 1—a historically rare condition that has marked “generational buying opportunities.”
The metric is used to determine whether investors who have held their Bitcoin for more than 155 days are selling at an aggregate profit or loss. The current reading indicates long-term holders are moving coins at or near a loss.
Michaël van de Poppe, a widely followed cryptocurrency analyst and trader, said that Bitcoin has started the week well, forecasting a “very likely” breakout above $61,000.
“The bullish divergences are still applicable here, indicating that there’s the upside ready to come,” Van De Poppe said.
Photo Courtesy: PJ McDonnell on Shutterstock.com
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Ripple (XRP) trades around the key $1.00 psychological level on Tuesday, consolidating as the token awaits its next directional catalyst. Stellar (XLM) extends its recovery above $0.178 after posting modest gains at the start of this week. Despite recent stabilization, mixed on-chain and derivatives data across both altcoins indicate cautious market sentiment, suggesting traders remain indecisive about the sustainability of the recovery.
Mixed on-chain outlookCryptoQuant’s summary data shows mixed sentiment. XRP’s spot markets show large whales' orders with neutral conditions in other metrics, supporting a potential recovery.
However, XLM shows an overheating condition and selling-side dominance in the spot and futures markets, with mixed retail activity, hinting at cautious sentiment among traders and capping any potential recovery.
XRP summary data chart. Source: CryptoQuant
XLM summary data. Source: CryptoQuantDerivatives metrics suggest cautious sentimentDerivatives data shows a mixed outlook. CoinGlass’ long-to-short ratio for XRP read 0.93 on Tuesday, slipping toward bearish territory. However, XLM reads 1.02 during the same period, flipping into bullish territory.
XRP long-to-short ratio chart. Source: Coinglass
XLM long-to-short ratio chart. Source: CoinglassIn addition, XRP funding rates turned negative on Tuesday, reading -0.0016%. For XLM, funding rates flipped negative on Saturday, reading -0.0143% on Tuesday, indicating that shorts are paying longs and suggesting bearish sentiment.
XRP funding rates chart. Source: SoSoValue
XLM funding rates chart. Source: SoSoValueSome other signs of optimismSoSoValue data shows some signs of optimism. Spot Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) recorded an inflow of $15.34 million on Monday after a $15.63 million inflow on Friday last week. If this inflow trend continues and intensifies, XRP could see a recovery ahead.
Total XRP spot ETF net inflow daily chart. Source: SoSoValueXRP technical outlook: Stabilizes around key support zoneXRP price trades at $1.051 on Tuesday, stabilizing around the key $1.000 psychological level for the past four days. Despite this recent consolidation, XRP maintains a bearish bias as price remains well below the 50‑day, 100‑day, and 200‑day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) at $1.200, $1.307, and $1.526, respectively.
XRP also trades under the upper boundary of the downward parallel channel at $1.162, reinforcing a capped structure. At the same time, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 33 stays in weak territory and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) remains slightly negative, hinting that downside pressure still dominates.
On the topside, initial resistance appears at the channel boundary around $1.162, followed by the 50‑day EMA at $1.200. Higher up, the $1.300 horizontal barrier aligns with the 100‑day EMA at $1.307 to form a dense supply zone, ahead of the more distant 200‑day EMA at $1.526 and the major horizontal level at $1.900.
With no meaningful support levels defined below the market in the current dataset, any renewed selling could leave price vulnerable to discovering fresh demand zones at lower levels.
XLM technical outlook: Extends recoveryStellar trades at $0.178 on Tuesday, extending its recovery. However, XLM is maintaining a bearish bias as price remains below the short- and medium-term EMAs. The 50-day EMA at $0.188, the 100-day EMA at $0.184 and the 200-day EMA at $0.199 all sit overhead as a layered supply zone, suggesting rallies are likely to be capped while these levels remain unreclaimed.
Momentum aligns with this cautious tone, as the RSI at 42 drifts below its midline and the MACD remains below zero, hinting at waning buying interest after the recent bounce.
On the downside, immediate demand is clustered just below the market at the horizontal support of $0.177, reinforced by the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement of the latest upswing at $0.173; a break below this area would expose the deeper horizontal floor near $0.142.
On the topside, initial resistance is located at the 100-day EMA at $0.184, followed by the 50-day EMA at $0.188; a sustained move above these EMAs would be needed to ease selling pressure, with further barriers emerging at the 200-day EMA at $0.199 and the 61.8% retracement at $0.200, ahead of higher Fibonacci levels at $0.218 and $0.237.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes delivered a blunt assessment of two of crypto’s most established projects, arguing that Cardano and XRP have built their lasting community loyalty on early wealth creation rather than actual utility.
“Lie to Your People” and Still Win
Asked why Cardano remains so popular despite dropping out of the top ten and sitting at rank 19, Hayes did not mince words. He argued that holders who got in early made significant money as Cardano climbed from nothing to a top-20 asset, and that kind of wealth creation buys permanent loyalty regardless of what the project actually delivers.
“You could be like Cardano or Ripple and do absolutely nothing,” Hayes said. “Lie to your people that you’re going to do something about it. However, people got this thing really, really cheap. You allowed them to get rich with you.”
His broader point was directed at founders generally. Hayes argued that building genuinely useful technology with strong developer talent is not enough on its own. What actually matters, in his view, is whether early holders got wealthy alongside the founders. If they did, that loyalty becomes permanent and detached from fundamentals.
“This is why the price is so important,” he said. “It’s more important than the fundamentals of what you actually build. If you give the majority of the community away to participate in what you are building and they get wealthy alongside the founders, then they will be with you forever regardless of what you do.”
He predicted Cardano would likely still be sitting in the top 50 coins fifteen years from now, continuing to do nothing, simply because people made money along the way.
Why Hayes Isn’t Buying Altcoins Right Now
When asked what would bring him back into buying these tokens, Hayes pointed to a structural shift in the market. With tokenized stocks now trading 24 hours a day on various exchanges, he said investors increasingly question why they need altcoin exposure at all when they can trade something like TSMC around the clock instead.
He believes crypto will find renewed momentum once the AI bubble collapses, an event he expects to be larger than past financial crises, driven by what he sees as massive capital misallocation and underwriting assumptions in AI infrastructure financing that will not hold.
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The debate over whether Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD is slowly cannibalising XRP’s utility has circulated through the crypto community for months. Versan Aljarrah, founder of Black Swan Capitalist, has a different view entirely, and he makes it with conviction.
RLUSD and XRP Are Not Competing. They Are a Two-Part System.
In an interview with Coinpedia, Aljarrah has addressed this question publicly over a hundred times by his own count, and his answer has not changed. RLUSD is a complementary liquidity layer, not a replacement for XRP. The two assets serve structurally different functions on the same ledger.
“RLUSD brings the easy dollars that institutions want,” Aljarrah told Coinpedia exclusively. “XRP remains the engine that moves value across systems efficiently. They expand the total addressable market rather than compete for the same slice.”
His argument is that RLUSD acts as a regulated, stable on-ramp that gives institutions the comfort they need to put capital onto the XRP Ledger in the first place. Once that capital is on the ledger and needs to move across currencies or jurisdictions, it requires a neutral bridge asset for efficient routing.
That role, Aljarrah says, belongs to XRP. Every RLUSD transaction moving into another currency creates demand for XRP as the intermediary. Activity on the ledger also burns XRP in fees, creating a direct deflationary effect from increased stablecoin volume.
How the Liquidity Model Actually Works
Aljarrah explained that the XRPL was designed with this tension in mind from the start. The ledger operates on a two-tier liquidity model. Retail participants earn yield by providing liquidity in public AMM pools. Institutions, however, do not rely on those same retail pools. They access deeper, more stable liquidity through direct ledger integration, over-the-counter arrangements, and private liquidity facilities.
As institutional volume grows on the ledger, it increases overall fee generation and improves routing efficiency, which actually makes providing liquidity more attractive for retail participants over time rather than less. The system separates high-frequency institutional pathways from yield-generating public pools while allowing both to coexist and benefit from overall network growth.
The First Real Use Case to Watch
When asked which corridor or institution will first demonstrate XRP’s role in commodity settlement in a verifiable, documented way, Aljarrah pointed to Japan and non-dollar energy trade.
“I’d watch for the first documented on-chain settlement where a tokenized or stablecoin representation of energy or commodity value is bridged using XRP between two non-USD currencies or payment systems,” he said. “It will probably start small and show up through corporate or regulatory disclosures rather than through big marketing announcements.”
His reasoning centres on the post-OPEC fragmentation of energy trade and the growing desire among Middle Eastern producers and Asian buyers to reduce reliance on traditional correspondent banking and dollar clearing. Once one corridor proves reliable and cost-effective at scale, others will follow quickly because the infrastructure friction is already being removed and the regulatory support from central banks and financial institutions is already in place.
The Decoupling Signal Is Already Visible
Aljarrah was asked what the first measurable signal of XRP decoupling from Bitcoin would look like, given that he has predicted this decoupling happens gradually then suddenly. His answer was direct.
“The signal has been visible for some time if you look beyond the price,” he said. “Regulatory clarity, infrastructure development, and institutional integration are being built specifically around the XRP Ledger, not around Bitcoin.”
When payment providers, banks, and central bank experiments route through or reference XRPL capabilities while treating Bitcoin primarily as a reserve asset, that is the decoupling in action. The market, he argues, intentionally misprices strategically important assets during the build-out phase. This creates what he described as a classic dynamic where everyone sees it coming but most still get positioned too late.
“The gradual phase is the quiet infrastructure work,” Aljarrah said. “The sudden phase arrives when real volume forces the market to reprice the asset based on actual usage rather than narrative correlation.”
Integration and Disruption at the Same Time
On the question of whether Ripple can simultaneously embed XRP into existing financial infrastructure while the underlying ledger disrupts that same infrastructure, Aljarrah sees no contradiction.
“Ripple can embed XRP into current infrastructure while the underlying ledger continues to offer efficiency gains that legacy players will eventually have to adopt or compete against,” he said. “It is not a contradiction. It is a multi-phase strategy.”
One layer works within existing systems to gain adoption and volume. Another layer uses the technology’s ability to reduce friction and counterparty risk in ways that gradually shift power dynamics. Both operate simultaneously on different time horizons.
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TL;DR XRP spot ETF products reportedly extended their inflow streak to eight consecutive weeks. Bitcoin ETFs have moved in the opposite direction, with heavy outflows reported in June. The split suggests investors may be separating broad crypto risk from targeted altcoin exposure. XRP Funds Keep Drawing Inflows XRP-linked ETF products have reportedly extended their inflow streak to eight consecutive weeks, pulling in fresh capital while Bitcoin funds have been dealing with heavy outflows.
That contrast is the story. In a weak market, investors are not simply selling everything crypto-related at the same pace. Some are reducing Bitcoin exposure, while pockets of demand remain for specific assets and wrappers. XRP is one of the names showing up in that rotation.
For readers, this matters because ETF flows are a cleaner signal than social hype. They do not tell the whole story, but they do show where capital is moving through regulated products. If XRP continues to attract inflows while Bitcoin bleeds, it suggests that some investors are making more selective decisions rather than exiting the sector entirely.
What The Bitcoin-XRP Split Says The split between Bitcoin outflows and XRP inflows is especially interesting because Bitcoin is usually treated as the institutional gateway into crypto.
When BTC products lose assets, the easy assumption is that institutional appetite for crypto is weakening. But XRP inflows complicate that view. They suggest investors may still want exposure to certain narratives, even if they are reducing broad market beta.
That does not automatically make XRP stronger than Bitcoin from an investment standpoint. It simply shows a difference in flow behavior. XRP has its own investor base, legal history, payments narrative, and community structure. Those factors can create demand that does not always move in lockstep with Bitcoin.
It also raises a question about maturity in crypto markets. Earlier cycles often moved together: Bitcoin led, altcoins followed, and risk appetite rose or fell as a block. ETF flow divergence suggests a more segmented market, where investors can express narrower views through specific products.
The Caveat For XRP Bulls XRP inflows are constructive, but they should not be treated as a guaranteed price signal.
Flows can support a market, but price still depends on liquidity, broader sentiment, technical structure, and whether new demand is large enough to overcome selling. Inflows also need to persist. One strong streak is useful; a durable trend would be more meaningful.
For Bitcoin, the pressure remains clear. Heavy ETF outflows in June have weakened one of the market’s most important demand channels. For XRP, the opposite is happening: regulated-product demand is still showing signs of life.
The takeaway is not that XRP has “won” the institutional race. It is that crypto flows are becoming more selective. That is a healthier, more complicated market — and one traders will need to read asset by asset rather than assuming everything moves as one trade.
For readers, the useful approach is to treat this as a signal to monitor rather than a standalone trading call, because confirmation still has to come from follow-through in price, flows, and broader market behavior.
—
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
The XRP Ledger ecosystem has taken a significant step toward attracting institutional capital. The XRPL Foundation has announced a partnership with fintech platform VS1 Finance to develop an open source reference application tailored for compliant, permissioned credit solutions on the XRP Ledger. The new initiative aims to give developers a ready-made regulatory and technical framework to build enterprise-grade lending services.
Framework for institutional lendingAt the heart of this partnership is a structure that clarifies compliance requirements for businesses seeking to offer on-chain credit services. The goal is to lower the initial cost and barriers for companies—particularly in sectors facing strict regulations—by providing a robust foundation to build on, rather than requiring them to start from scratch.
The XRPL Foundation remains an important force in the ecosystem, contributing open source tools and supporting the advancement of the XRP Ledger network. VS1 Finance, meanwhile, is positioned as a fintech platform dedicated to institutional finance applications.
VS1 Finance emphasizes that a permissioned lending structure is essential for bringing major institutional capital to the XRP ecosystem. An open source template, they note, could accelerate adoption throughout the market.
Native network components over external smart contractsThe announcement closely follows VS1 Finance’s participation in Ripple’s UDAX accelerator program on June 25, focused on on-chain capital markets. A key feature of the project is the decision to design with native components embedded directly within the XRP Ledger protocol, rather than relying on external plugins or third-party smart contracts.
This approach is intended to limit security vulnerabilities or risks that can arise from externally sourced smart contract code. By anchoring application logic at the validator level within the network, the architecture promises greater control and oversight for institutional players.
Mini glossary: Permissioned Domains are an XRPL feature allowing only approved parties to access the network or specific liquidity pools. Credentials refer to a built-in mechanism that verifies identity and compliance information within the network.
On the identity and access front, the solution plans to integrate KYC and AML processes natively, making use of the Credentials and Permissioned Domains modules. This structure will separate liquidity pools and limit access solely to verified counterparties, providing large funds with confidence that their capital will not intermingle with unknown sources.
Highlights in liquidity management and open source modelFor liquidity management, the system is expected to automate specific term lending operations and asset allocation using Single Asset Vaults and a platform-level Lending Protocol. While removing traditional intermediaries from the process, the design aims to preserve credit risk parameters familiar to banks and institutional lenders.
AreaComponentPurposeCompliance & accessCredentials, Permissioned DomainsRestrict access to verified partiesLiquidity managementSingle Asset Vaults, Lending ProtocolAutomate term lending and asset allocationDevelopment modelOpen source reference applicationEnable code review, adaptation, and extensionRather than launching a closed commercial product, the XRPL Foundation and VS1 Finance are opting for an open source release. This model will allow financial institutions and developer teams to audit the code, adapt it to their own requirements, or integrate its functionality into existing services.
The partners’ strategy centers on creating an open reference framework on XRP Ledger that lowers deployment costs and streamlines compliance, paving the way for more accessible institutional onboarding.
Regulatory experience from Georgia feeds the projectVS1 Finance’s software development work coincides with their involvement in the regulatory sandbox of the National Bank of Georgia, preparing for an institutional bond tokenization pilot. This connection ensures that the application architecture directly incorporates lessons learned from working with a real-world banking regulator.
The resulting reference application is anticipated to provide both technical and compliance-oriented foundations for any party seeking to build institutional credit offerings on the XRP Ledger.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
In brief Developers are beginning to test the proposed XRP Ledger Lending Protocol, Ripple said Monday. If approved by network validators, then the dual upgrade would allow network participants to put digital assets to work that currently sit idle. XRP’s price recently fell to its lowest level since November 2024. XRP’s native blockchain inched closer on Monday toward functionality allowing institutions to borrow and lend digital assets directly on-chain, with Ripple announcing that developers can start experimenting with the XRPL Lending Protocol within a testing environment.
In a blog post, the firm outlined how two technical specifications dubbed XLS-65 and XLS-66 would introduce native credit infrastructure directly to the XRP Ledger (XRPL), providing financial firms with a novel way to structure agreements on-chain.
If approved by network validators, then the dual upgrade will enable tokenized real-world assets (RWAs)—such as money market funds and commodities—to be deployed as working capital on XRPL, as opposed to sitting as static inventory across millions of network accounts.
According to the announcement, the XRPL Lending Protocol relies on two components. The “Single Asset Vault” provides a standardized format for pooling assets on XRPL, while the “Lending Protocol” helps dictate loan terms, servicing elements, and repayment logic.
Under the arrangement, Ripple noted that underwriting stays off-chain. That means the process lenders use to determine a borrower’s creditworthiness isn’t reflected on XRPL, a design intended to let institutions retain control over lending decisions.
“This separation mirrors real financial infrastructure,” Ripple said. “By preserving that distinction, XRPL can support a wider range of credit structures over time, rather than hard-coding one lending model into a single application.”
Still, repayment schedules, interest calculations, and default conditions operate under predefined rules once a loan is originated, Ripple said. On top of that, losses from defaults are designed to be compartmentalized using a multi-tiered approach where capital from pool managers and underwriters is put at risk first, mirroring structures in traditional finance.
Ripple referenced public lending protocols such as Aave. Although they’ve shown that lending can operate on-chain at scale, the firm argued that their crypto-native governance models and risk frameworks don’t align with Wall Street’s risk management procedures.
The company listed several examples of what the dual upgrade would enable, including the ability for a payment provider to access short-duration liquidity and a way for treasury teams to generate revenue by lending digital assets under clearer terms.
The lending protocol follows a major milestone for the network in May, when Ondo Finance used the XRPL to execute the first cross-border, cross-bank redemption of tokenized U.S. Treasuries. However, Ripple described this new dual lending upgrade as on-chain finance's true “missing layer,” arguing that moving an asset on-chain is only half the battle.
The XRPL Lending Protocol would likely bolster the use of Ripple’s stablecoin on-chain. Since its debut in late 2024, RLUSD has grown to a market cap of $1.5 billion, according to CoinGecko.
On Monday, XRP changed hands around $1.05, an 8.2% decrease over the past week. Last Thursday, the cryptocurrency fell to its lowest point since President Donald Trump’s reelection, tumbling one cent shy of a dollar in sympathy with Bitcoin.
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In brief Developers are beginning to test the proposed XRP Ledger Lending Protocol, Ripple said Monday. If approved by network validators, then the dual upgrade would allow network participants to put digital assets to work that currently sit idle. XRP’s price recently fell to its lowest level since November 2024. XRP’s native blockchain inched closer on Monday toward functionality allowing institutions to borrow and lend digital assets directly on-chain, with Ripple announcing that developers can start experimenting with the XRPL Lending Protocol within a testing environment.
In a blog post, the firm outlined how two technical specifications dubbed XLS-65 and XLS-66 would introduce native credit infrastructure directly to the XRP Ledger (XRPL), providing financial firms with a novel way to structure agreements on-chain.
If approved by network validators, then the dual upgrade will enable tokenized real-world assets (RWAs)—such as money market funds and commodities—to be deployed as working capital on XRPL, as opposed to sitting as static inventory across millions of network accounts.
According to the announcement, the XRPL Lending Protocol relies on two components. The “Single Asset Vault” provides a standardized format for pooling assets on XRPL, while the “Lending Protocol” helps dictate loan terms, servicing elements, and repayment logic.
Under the arrangement, Ripple noted that underwriting stays off-chain. That means the process lenders use to determine a borrower’s creditworthiness isn’t reflected on XRPL, a design intended to let institutions retain control over lending decisions.
“This separation mirrors real financial infrastructure,” Ripple said. “By preserving that distinction, XRPL can support a wider range of credit structures over time, rather than hard-coding one lending model into a single application.”
Still, repayment schedules, interest calculations, and default conditions operate under predefined rules once a loan is originated, Ripple said. On top of that, losses from defaults are designed to be compartmentalized using a multi-tiered approach where capital from pool managers and underwriters is put at risk first, mirroring structures in traditional finance.
Ripple referenced public lending protocols such as Aave. Although they’ve shown that lending can operate on-chain at scale, the firm argued that their crypto-native governance models and risk frameworks don’t align with Wall Street’s risk management procedures.
The company listed several examples of what the dual upgrade would enable, including the ability for a payment provider to access short-duration liquidity and a way for treasury teams to generate revenue by lending digital assets under clearer terms.
The lending protocol follows a major milestone for the network in May, when Ondo Finance used the XRPL to execute the first cross-border, cross-bank redemption of tokenized U.S. Treasuries. However, Ripple described this new dual lending upgrade as on-chain finance's true “missing layer,” arguing that moving an asset on-chain is only half the battle.
The XRPL Lending Protocol would likely bolster the use of Ripple’s stablecoin on-chain. Since its debut in late 2024, RLUSD has grown to a market cap of $1.5 billion, according to CoinGecko.
On Monday, XRP changed hands around $1.05, an 8.2% decrease over the past week. Last Thursday, the cryptocurrency fell to its lowest point since President Donald Trump’s reelection, tumbling one cent shy of a dollar in sympathy with Bitcoin.
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Despite persistent selling pressure across the cryptocurrency market, the XRP network has witnessed an eye-catching surge in new users. Over recent weeks, around 19000 new accounts have been activated each week. This trend is fueling speculation that, even with muted price action, accumulation around XRP could be gaining momentum.
Network expansion and capital inflows set XRP apartAccording to Evernorth, this pace of growth is occurring while the Altcoin Season Index remains at 46. This figure suggests the market has yet to enter a full-scale altcoin rally. Nevertheless, some investors appear to be adopting a more selective approach, positioning XRP as one of the standout assets amid a cautious environment.
Capital flows into investment products reinforce this narrative of divergence. While numerous crypto ETFs and digital asset products have registered net outflows, funds targeting XRP have continued to attract new capital. This pattern hints that institutional and sophisticated investors may be increasing their exposure to XRP despite prevailing caution in the market.
Investment products focused on XRP are drawing new capital, even as most of the market faces outflows.
Technical indicators point to a critical thresholdAlongside capital inflows, the expanding user base strengthens the case for a bullish scenario. The steady rise in XRP wallet numbers indicates growing adoption and engagement on the network. Remarkably, this trend has persisted even during market corrections, suggesting durable confidence beyond short-term speculation.
Data from CoinCodex puts XRP trading near the pivotal $1.05 support level. Holding above this price region could nurture hopes of a rebound, provided market conditions improve in the weeks ahead.
A notable indicator in the long-term technical landscape has also emerged. Market analyst Cryptollica points out that XRP’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) has entered its deepest oversold territory in thirteen years, underscoring a potentially significant juncture for the asset.
Mini glossary: RSI is a technical indicator measuring the speed and strength of a price movement. Generally, a low RSI signals oversold conditions, while a high RSI points to an overbought market.
According to Cryptollica, XRP’s long-term RSI has now reached the most extreme oversold reading in its 13-year history.
Markets reflect on past cyclesHistorically, similar periods of deep RSI fatigue have preceded notable rallies in XRP. However, while past cycles offer signals, they do not guarantee identical outcomes in the future. Even so, the current technical setup is reviving expectations that XRP could be approaching a decisive turning point.
When combining the network’s consistent expansion, ongoing capital inflows, and the historically weak technical outlook, XRP stands out as more robust than many of its altcoin peers. The continuing ability to attract both users and investment remains under close watch for potentially shaping price action in the near term.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
XRP whale outflows becoming less concentrated on Binance and increasingly distributed across other trading platforms.
Large XRP transfers are becoming more prominent across centralized exchanges overall, while their activity on Binance has declined. Data from the 7-day moving average of the XRP Whale vs Retail Spread across all centralized exchanges rose from 26% on May 6 to 50.9% on June 29. This is an increase of 24.9 percentage points.
According to CryptoQuant, the latest trend indicates that transfers involving more than 100,000 XRP are making up a much larger share of exchange outflows compared to smaller retail-sized transactions than they did in early May.
Whale Presence Outside Binance The same cannot be said for Binance. CryptoQuant found that the exchange’s Whale vs Retail Spread dropped from 62% on June 11 to 44.6% on June 29, a decline of 17.4 percentage points. As a result, Binance’s reading now stands 6.3 percentage points below the broader centralized exchange average of 50.9%.
The Whale vs Retail Spread measures the difference between XRP outflow volumes generated by transfers above 100,000 XRP and those involving 100,000 XRP or less. Higher readings indicate that whale-sized transactions account for a larger share of exchange outflows than retail transfers.
The analysis revealed that the growing gap between Binance and the wider exchange market essentially suggests that large XRP transfers are becoming less concentrated on Binance and increasingly distributed across other trading platforms.
Price Struggles XRP spent most of June under pressure after falling from above $1.30 at the start of the month to around $1.05 at the time of writing. Although the crypto asset saw a brief rebound in mid-June, the recovery quickly faded as sellers regained control and pushed prices lower again.
It even slipped behind BNB and USDC in market capitalization. With XRP currently testing the crucial $1.06 support previously identified by Ali Martinez, the asset is now exposed to lower support areas at $0.80, $0.62, and $0.51.
You may also like: Everyone Expects XRP to Crash Further: Is Ripple About to Surprise the Market? Ripple (XRP) Boosts Global Blockchain Adoption With Over $70M in Donations XRP’s Slide to Sub-$1.00 Could Set Up ‘Risk-Reward’ Zone: Analyst Meanwhile, Glassnode reported that XRP investors are realizing more losses than profits. Despite the weakness, some analysts remain optimistic. EGRAG CRYPTO, for one, believes that if XRP follows historical price patterns linked to its “Central Line,” the asset could eventually reach between $5.70 and $8, based on gains seen during previous market cycles.
Australian-based cryptocurrency broker Caleb & Brown has announced a partnership with Ripple aimed at speeding up US dollar withdrawal processes. By replacing part of its traditional correspondent banking framework with Ripple Payments, the company has revamped its payments infrastructure. This move is designed to allow customers to access faster US dollar settlements, all while leaving their crypto buying, selling, and custody routines unchanged.
Infrastructure shift for US dollar withdrawalsManaging more than $2 billion in client assets, Caleb & Brown targets operational delays and friction in cross-border payments with this latest integration. While crypto assets can move across blockchains in seconds, traditional banking channels still depend on multiple intermediaries for fiat currencies like the US dollar, resulting in slower transactions and higher costs.
Glossary: Correspondent banking is a system where a bank processes transactions in another country’s currency or on its behalf via a partner institution. This model often extends transaction timeframes and increases costs due to extra intermediaries, especially in cross-border payments.
The collaboration between Caleb & Brown and Ripple is less about launching a new customer-facing product and more about strengthening the payment backbone that supports the company’s services. The goal is to ensure US dollar withdrawals are completed more efficiently, slashing wait times linked to legacy banking systems.
Jake Boyle highlighted that Ripple Payments combines the speed and innovation of the crypto sector with the enduring structure of the traditional US dollar banking system.
Strategic aims of the partnershipJake Boyle, Caleb & Brown’s Commercial Director, commented that the partnership reflects a need to bridge blockchain innovation with conventional financial realities. Boyle’s insights underline a market paradox: while crypto markets run 24/7, traditional fiat transfers remain tied to decades-old banking rails.
Ripple Payments is Ripple’s enterprise-grade payment network, designed to modernize payment flows while remaining compatible with the existing financial infrastructure. With Caleb & Brown, this utility spans beyond cross-border transfers and extends into day-to-day US dollar withdrawal operations for clients.
The company emphasized that the investment focuses on infrastructure, simplifying the processes of buying, selling, storing, and withdrawing digital assets.
Institutional demand and regulatory backdropCrypto platforms adhering to regulatory standards are increasingly prioritizing operational efficiency, as blockchain-powered settlement networks gradually replace outdated banking channels. The announcement arrives at a time when global institutional interest in blockchain infrastructure is accelerating.
Frameworks like the European Union’s MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation continue to fuel demand for compliant digital asset solutions. Against this backdrop, blockchain networks such as Ripple, Hedera, Cardano, and XDC are emerging as leading platforms in the fields of institutional payments and tokenized finance.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
XRP Ledger Foundation and VS1 Finance are building an open-source compliant lending reference application for XRPL. The project combines Credentials, Permissioned Domains, Vaults and Lending Protocol into one institutional framework. Developers will be free to fork, study and extend the reference application for regulated lending use cases. The initiative focuses on permissioned lending infrastructure designed for institutions operating on XRP Ledger. The XRP Ledger Foundation has partnered with VS1 Finance to develop an open-source reference application for compliant lending on the XRP Ledger. The initiative focuses on regulated lending by combining native XRP Ledger features with permissioned access controls.
The project aims to provide developers with a reusable framework for building institutional lending products. It also highlights the network’s growing focus on compliance-ready blockchain infrastructure for financial markets.
XRP Ledger Foundation expands compliant lending infrastructure on XRP Ledger The new application will use several native XRP Ledger building blocks designed for regulated financial activity. These include Credentials, Permissioned Domains, Single Asset Vaults, and the Lending Protocol.
The XRP Ledger Foundation is partnering with @vs1_finance to build an open-source reference app for permissioned, compliant lending on the XRP Ledger.
The app leverages the native primitives: Credentials, Permissioned Domains, Single Asset Vaults, and the Lending Protocol. pic.twitter.com/thbXFABtH2
— XRP Ledger Foundation (@XRPLF) June 29, 2026
According to the XRP Ledger Foundation’s announcement on X, the application will serve as an open-source reference implementation rather than a closed commercial product. Developers will be able to examine its architecture and adapt it for their own use cases.
The framework targets permissioned lending environments where participants must satisfy compliance requirements before accessing financial services. That approach allows institutions to operate within predefined identity and authorization rules.
The project reflects continued development around institutional blockchain infrastructure. Instead of introducing new protocol features, the application combines existing XRP Ledger primitives into a practical lending workflow.
XRP Ledger lending app targets institutional crypto finance VS1 Finance said the collaboration focuses on creating infrastructure that institutions can readily adopt for compliant capital deployment. The company stated on X that permissioned lending can help bridge traditional financial firms with blockchain-based markets.
Honored to be partnering with @XRPLF on this.
Compliant, permissioned lending is the bridge institutions need to move serious capital on {XRP}.
Building a reference app that any team can fork, study, or extend is how we accelerate that across the ecosystem.
More soon. https://t.co/fjwMk5wZgy
— VS1 (@vs1_finance) June 29, 2026
Rather than limiting access to a single platform, the partners intend to publish the application as open source. Development teams will have the option to fork, modify, or extend the codebase for different lending products.
The announcement places strong emphasis on transparency and ecosystem growth. Open-source reference applications often reduce development time by providing tested implementation examples for builders across the network.
Neither organization disclosed a launch date or technical roadmap alongside the announcement. The initial statements instead centered on the application’s design goals and its role within the broader XRP Ledger ecosystem.
The collaboration arrives as blockchain networks continue developing compliance-focused infrastructure for regulated financial institutions. By combining permissioned access with native lending components, the project seeks to provide a standardized foundation for future XRP
Ledger lending applications, according to updates shared separately by both the XRP Ledger Foundation and VS1 Finance on X.
The long-standing ideological battle between Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and MicroStrategy (now operating under the ticker Strategy) Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has flared up once again.
In a new social media post, Garlinghouse fired a fresh shot at the Bitcoin maximalists' aggressive accumulation tactics.
He quoted a segment from CNBC's Squawk on the Street, declaring: "Financial engineering doesn't drive long-term value. Utility does." The quote reinforced Garlinghouse's televised remarks where he explicitly stated, "I think team Michael Saylor wasn't focused on the right stuff, and that has hurt the overall market."
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Utility or financial engineering? The latest social media dig serves as an extension of Garlinghouse’s recent appearance on CNBC, where he openly criticized Saylor's playbook for financing corporate Bitcoin purchases.
Garlinghouse argued that Strategy's heavy reliance on issuing preferred securities to buy more Bitcoin amounts to "financial engineering" rather than building real-world technological utility. To illustrate his point, the Ripple executive pointed directly to the market performance of Strategy's preferred shares, specifically STRC. The STRC shares, which carry an 11.5% cumulative annual dividend obligation, have recently traded roughly 25% below their $100 face value.
According to Garlinghouse, this steep discount is a "serious negative signal" from the market, suggesting that a highly leveraged accumulation strategy can compound negatively during downturns and ultimately harm the broader crypto industry. Garlinghouse maintains that the long-term value of digital assets will naturally flow toward those that solve real-world problems and provide institutional utility, not those propped up by debt-driven capital structures.
A history of animosity The friction between the two prominent crypto executives is well-documented and deeply rooted in their opposing views on the digital asset landscape.
In 2022, Saylor famously called XRP an "unregistered security" and actively urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to shut down XRP alongside other altcoins. Saylor's insistence that Bitcoin is the only legitimate institutional digital asset has naturally positioned him as a direct antagonist to Ripple's core mission.
Though Saylor recently surprised the market by expressing support for a U.S. multi-token cryptocurrency reserve that might tentatively include XRP, the clash seemingly remains unresolved.
For Garlinghouse, Strategy's current market woes present an opportunity to vindicate Ripple's utility-first approach while throwing a very public jab at his long-time industry critic.
XRP has lately been trading in a narrowing price band, with a crucial technical juncture now on the horizon. Market analyst Tektonic highlights that the asset is caught between a significant support zone and a robust resistance level, a situation that may be setting the stage for a sharp new move in price.
Intense squeeze in a narrowing rangeOn the four hour and two hour charts, XRP has repeatedly managed to stay above its main support area, even as selling pressure has continued to test it. The fact that there has been no downward breakdown suggests the price is compressing into an increasingly tight range. In technical analysis, this type of setup often indicates an intensifying tug of war between buyers and sellers, potentially ushering in a period of heightened volatility.
Tektonic identifies $1.04 as the key resistance level to watch. According to the analyst, the most powerful bullish scenario could unfold if the price briefly dips below support to collect liquidity, only to then swiftly recover and reclaim resistance. Such a move could flush out weaker market positions, paving the way for renewed buying momentum.
Tektonic assesses that the most robust bullish outlook for XRP would emerge if the price cleans out liquidity just below support, then regains resistance shortly thereafter.
Key support and resistance levels in focusAccording to CoinCodex data, XRP is currently trading at $1.06, sitting just above a demand zone between $1.02 and $1.01. Should the price pull back, this area is expected to attract strong buying interest. As long as this support holds, XRP could regain upward momentum and potentially target $1.10 or higher.
However, Tektonic remains cautious and is waiting for stronger confirmation before adopting a distinctly bullish stance. The first sign the analyst highlights is a successful retest of the demand zone at $1.02 to $1.01, followed by a clear rebound. The second indicator would be a decisive break above resistance backed by high volume. If such conditions are met, it could signal that XRP is strong enough to continue its rally without falling back to lower levels.
Network growth fuels optimismWhile a cautious outlook prevails in the short term, market participants are closely monitoring which direction the constricting price range will eventually resolve. Historically, extended periods of low volatility in XRP have often been followed by substantial price swings, keeping attention firmly centered on the asset’s next move.
Beyond the technical outlook, on-chain data also paints an optimistic picture. The XRP network is reported to be adding approximately 19,000 new users per week, despite a general slowdown across the broader cryptocurrency market. As a digital asset linked to the Ripple ecosystem, XRP continues to stand out for its use cases in cross border payments.
Additionally, XRP is reported to have reached its most oversold level in 13 years. This situation is strengthening expectations that a breakthrough above key resistance could ignite a broader upward move for the asset.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
XRP has slid to around $1, down from its $3.66 high last year, with retail in fear even as whale wallets hit record highs. Where could it finish 2026? Credible forecasts run from below $1 to $8, and the gap comes down to one question. Here is what would push XRP to each level, and which path looks most defensible.
Summary
XRP trades near $1.04 as of late June 2026, down from a July 2025 cycle high near $3.66, with relative strength near oversold and moving averages around $1.13 to $1.14 sitting overhead as resistance. The forecast range for year-end 2026 is unusually wide: bearish models point below $1, conservative models to roughly $1.40 to $1.80, Standard Chartered to $2.80, and bullish publishers toward $4.36 to $8. Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick cut his year-end target from $8 to $2.80 while keeping a $28 call for 2030, capturing the split between near-term caution and long-term conviction. The entire range turns on one question: whether the XRP token itself, not just Ripple’s network, captures the cross-border payment and settlement volume flowing through it. A move to $2 or $3 needs stabilization, ETF support, and better sentiment, while $5 or higher needs a genuine shift in market structure and proven token utility. XRP (XRP) is trading near $1.04 as of late June 2026, and for holders it has been a deeply frustrating year: the token has cleared nearly every obstacle its community spent years waiting for, yet the price has done close to nothing but fall. XRP is down from a cycle high near $3.66 reached in July 2025, having declined through the back half of last year and the first half of this one, and it now sits roughly a third below where it began 2026.
XRP daily price chart | Source: crypto.news The technical picture is heavy. The relative strength index hovers near 30, at the lower boundary where downtrends sometimes exhaust themselves, and the 50-day and 200-day moving averages cluster overhead around $1.13 to $1.14, acting as the resistance XRP must reclaim to change its trend. Sentiment is weak, with retail traders fearful, even as on-chain data shows whale wallet counts at record highs, a contrarian split in which large holders appear to be accumulating while smaller holders capitulate. The question this article addresses is where that leaves XRP at the end of 2026, and the honest answer is that the credible range is enormous.
That range, from below $1 to $8, is not a sign of lazy forecasting; it reflects a real and unresolved disagreement about what XRP fundamentally is and whether its token captures value. This article works through the question methodically: where XRP stands and how it got here, the bearish case for a finish below $1, the base case in the $1.40 to $2.80 zone, the bullish case for $4 to $8, the meaning of Standard Chartered’s high-profile cut from $8 to $2.80, the enormous valuation gap that Bitwise’s own model reveals, the catalysts that could actually move the price, and three concrete scenarios for year-end.
Throughout, the goal is to show what each outcome requires rather than to pick a number, because XRP’s path depends on variables that genuinely could resolve in very different directions. The forecasts here are information, not advice, and the single most useful thing to carry through the piece is the question underneath every target: does XRP the token capture the volume that Ripple the company is winning, or does the value accrue elsewhere? Almost everything about the price follows from the answer.
Where XRP stands and how it got here To judge where XRP might end 2026, you need the recent history, because XRP’s price has been driven as much by legal and structural events as by market cycles. The token spent years under the shadow of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit against Ripple, and that case formally concluded in 2025, establishing that XRP is not a security when sold on exchanges and removing the single largest overhang on the token.
On the back of the resolution and a friendlier regulatory climate, XRP surged to a cycle high near $3.66 in July 2025, approaching the kind of levels its long-suffering community had anticipated for years. Spot XRP exchange-traded funds launched in November 2025 and drew over $1 billion in net inflows, another long-awaited milestone. By the standards of what the community had been waiting for, 2025 delivered nearly the full checklist.
And yet the price has fallen steadily since. From the July 2025 high near $3.66, XRP declined through the rest of the year and into 2026, sliding to around $1.04 by late June against a backdrop of broad crypto weakness. The frustration in the XRP community is precisely that the token cleared every hurdle and still dropped, which has fueled a debate about whether the good news was already priced in, whether broader market conditions simply overwhelmed XRP’s catalysts, or whether something more structural is limiting how much value flows to the token.
The current setup reflects that tension: XRP is liquid and actively traded, whale wallets are accumulating at record levels in what looks like strategic positioning, but retail sentiment is fearful, and the chart is below its key moving averages. The token sits at a level that is either a coiled accumulation base before the next move higher or a waypoint in a continued decline, and which one it is depends on the catalysts and the value-accrual question explored below. The history matters because it shows XRP has already spent its biggest bullish catalysts, the legal resolution and the ETF launch, which raises the bar for what it takes to push the price meaningfully higher from here.
The bearish case: a finish below $1 The case for XRP ending 2026 below $1 is grounded in both technicals and a structural skepticism that deserves to be taken seriously. Technically, XRP trades below its key moving averages near $1.13 to $1.14, and a market that cannot reclaim those levels is, by definition, still in a downtrend. Several model-based and technical forecasting systems remain bearish on XRP, with some, such as Gov Capital and WalletInvestor, projecting outright losses over a 1-year horizon, treating recent weakness as part of a broader risk pattern rather than a dip to be bought. If macro conditions deteriorate, whether through a broad crypto downturn, a risk-off shift in markets, or disappointing follow-through on ETF flows, XRP could test and break its current support, with technical analyses pointing to downside levels in the low-$1 range and below if the bearish trend persists.
The deeper bearish argument is structural and connects to the value-accrual question at the heart of this piece. Skeptics contend that Ripple’s commercial success, its growing roster of financial-institution partnerships and its cross-border payments business, does not necessarily translate into demand for the XRP token, because much of Ripple’s settlement activity can be conducted without participants holding XRP for any meaningful duration, and because Ripple’s own dollar stablecoin offers an alternative settlement instrument that does not require the token at all. In this reading, XRP could remain a liquid, speculative asset whose price is driven by sentiment and trading rather than by genuine, sustained utility demand, and absent a clear mechanism forcing value into the token, it could drift lower or stagnate even as Ripple thrives as a company.
The bearish case, then, is not merely a chart pattern; it is a thesis that XRP the token may be structurally disconnected from the network’s success, and that a finish below $1 is what happens if the market comes to share that view while macro conditions stay unsupportive.
The base case: $1.40 to $2.80 The base case, where a plurality of serious forecasts cluster, sees XRP recovering modestly to somewhere between roughly $1.40 and $2.80 by year-end, and it rests on a more balanced set of assumptions. Conservative, model-driven forecasters such as CoinCodex and Changelly project XRP in the $1.40 to $1.80 area, with Changelly specifically modeling a December range around $1.29 to $1.55 and an average near $1.42.
These forecasts assume XRP stabilizes, reclaims some lost ground as the broader market steadies, and benefits from continued but not explosive ETF interest, without breaking decisively above its major resistance levels. This is essentially a recovery-without-breakout scenario: XRP stops falling, grinds back toward and through its moving averages, but does not enter a new bull phase.
The upper end of the base case is anchored by the most-watched institutional forecast on XRP. Geoffrey Kendrick at Standard Chartered, after cutting his target, places XRP’s year-end 2026 level at $2.80, a number that sits deliberately between the cautious algorithmic models and the more bullish crypto-publisher calls. That $2.80 figure has become a useful benchmark precisely because it comes from a major bank instead of from automated technical models or retail-facing commentary, and it implies meaningful recovery from current levels without requiring a structural transformation in how XRP captures value.
The base case overall assumes that XRP’s concluded legal status, its live ETFs, and its institutional relationships provide enough of a foundation for a recovery toward the $1.40 to $2.80 band, supported by moderate ETF inflows and a stable-to-improving macro environment, but that the bigger moves toward $5 and beyond require catalysts that are not yet in evidence. For a token that has spent its largest bullish events already, a base-case recovery into the low-single-digits is a reasonable central expectation, and it is where the weight of credible forecasting sits.
The bullish case: $4 to $8 The bullish case for XRP reaching $4 to $8 by year-end is not fringe; it has institutional roots, but it requires conditions that go well beyond a general crypto rebound. The bullish group of forecasts starts near $4.36 and extends above $6, drawing on sources including PricePrediction.net, Telegaon, and commentary such as Dominic Basulto at The Motley Fool, who has floated $5 for XRP in 2026 with asset tokenization as a potential catalyst.
At the top of the credible bull range sits Standard Chartered’s original $8 target for 2026, which Kendrick held before cutting it and which was predicated on sustained ETF inflows and the regulatory clarity following the SEC settlement. The common thread is that these higher targets all assume XRP converts its structural advantages, concluded legal status, live ETFs, and Ripple’s institutional footprint, into real, sustained demand for the token.
What would it actually take to get there? The bullish case requires several things to align: ETF inflows would need to accelerate substantially, with some bullish models assuming flows climbing toward the multibillion-dollar range that Standard Chartered modeled as the trigger for its higher targets; the CLARITY Act or similar legislation would need to pass and codify XRP’s commodity status, unlocking institutional capital that has stayed on the sidelines; Ripple’s expanding use of XRP in cross-border settlement and its banking ambitions would need to translate into demonstrable token demand; and the broader market would likely need an altcoin-favorable phase instead of the current Bitcoin-dominated, risk-off mood.
The cleanest way to summarize it, echoing the analysts who have studied the range, is that a move toward $2 to $3 requires stabilization, ETF support, and better sentiment, while a move toward $5 or higher requires a stronger shift in market structure, institutional demand, and proven token utility. The bull case is achievable, but it is conditional on XRP answering the value-accrual question in the affirmative, which is exactly what remains unproven.
Why Standard Chartered cut from $8 to $2.80 The most instructive single event in XRP’s forecast landscape this year is Standard Chartered’s revision, because it crystallizes the shift from hope to realism. Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank’s digital-assets research lead, had previously set an $8 year-end 2026 target for XRP, a number that implied a large rally and was anchored in expectations of sustained ETF inflows and the post-settlement regulatory clarity.
As the year progressed and XRP failed to sustain the more aggressive assumptions priced into that forecast, Kendrick cut the year-end target to $2.80. The revision fit the broader weakness seen across crypto in 2026 and reflected that the catalysts, while real, were not translating into price at the pace the original target assumed. The cut matters because it came from a credible institutional source recalibrating to reality instead of from a perma-bear or a hype account, which makes the new $2.80 figure a more grounded benchmark than the targets above it.
Crucially, Kendrick left his longer-term call untouched: he kept a $28 target for XRP by 2030 even as he slashed the near-term number. That juxtaposition, $2.80 by year-end but $28 by 2030, captures the defining feature of serious XRP analysis, which is a split between near-term caution and long-term conviction. The long-term bull case rests on XRP becoming a major institutional settlement asset as Ripple’s banking and cross-border infrastructure matures, a process measured in years instead of months.
The near-term caution reflects that, right now, those flows have not materialized at the scale needed to drive the price, and the token remains hostage to sentiment and macro conditions. For anyone trying to forecast year-end 2026 specifically, the lesson of the Standard Chartered cut is sobering: even a committed long-term bull at a major bank concluded that the near-term path was far more modest than the $8 he once projected, and $2.80 now functions as the credible ceiling of the base case instead of the floor of the bull case.
The valuation gap that defines XRP If one piece of analysis captures why XRP forecasts diverge so violently, it is the valuation work from the asset manager Bitwise, which ran XRP through a formal model and produced 2030 outcomes ranging from roughly $0.13 at the bottom to above $29 at the top. That is more than a 200-fold gap between the same firm’s bearish and bullish cases for the same token, and it sounds absurd until you see what drives it. The entire spread rests on a single assumption: whether XRP the token captures a meaningful chunk of the cross-border payment and settlement volume that Ripple is winning. Bitwise’s high case assumes it does, with XRP becoming the bridge asset that institutional value routes through; its low case assumes it does not, with banks sticking to existing systems and dollar stablecoins, including Ripple’s own, moving the money instead while XRP is bypassed.
This is the question underneath every XRP price target, and it is why the same catalysts can be read as wildly bullish or quietly bearish. Standard Chartered’s $28 by 2030 and the high single-digit-to-low-teens targets from other analysts all quietly lean on the assumption that the token captures the volume; the bearish models assume it does not.
The reason the question is so hard to settle is that Ripple can and does conduct much settlement activity without participants holding XRP for long, and its dollar stablecoin offers a token-free alternative, so the mechanism by which network success forces sustained demand into XRP is contested instead of obvious. For year-end 2026, the practical implication is that XRP’s price will be driven less by any single catalyst than by how the market’s collective answer to this question evolves. If confidence grows that the token captures the volume, the higher targets come into reach; if doubt deepens, the lower ones do. Everything else- the ETF flows, the legislation, the partnerships- ultimately feeds into that one judgment, which is why the credible forecast range is a chasm instead of a band.
The catalysts that could move XRP Several concrete catalysts could push XRP toward one end of the range or the other before year-end, and watching them is more useful than fixating on a target. The 1st is the CLARITY Act and the broader regulatory picture. Passage of legislation codifying XRP’s commodity status into law, instead of leaving it resting on the concluded lawsuit, could unlock institutional capital that has stayed cautious, and XRP is widely seen as a beneficiary alongside other payment-focused tokens.
The 2nd is ETF flows. The spot XRP ETFs that launched in late 2025 are central to any serious forecast, because they remove supply from exchanges as providers accumulate, and the trajectory of their inflows, whether they reaccelerate toward the multibillion-dollar levels bulls assume or stagnate, will heavily influence the price. The 3rd is Ripple’s own business: its expanding use of XRP in cross-border corridors, its banking and custody ambitions, and the growth of its dollar stablecoin, which cuts both ways by validating Ripple while offering a token-free settlement path.
The 4th set of catalysts is macro and market structure: the Federal Reserve’s policy path, broad crypto liquidity, Bitcoin’s behavior, and whether the market rotates into altcoins or stays concentrated in Bitcoin. XRP, like most altcoins, tends to need a risk-on, altcoin-favorable environment to sustain large moves, and the current Bitcoin-dominated, fearful market has been a headwind.
The contrarian signal worth watching is the divergence between record whale accumulation and fearful retail sentiment, which historically can precede a reversal if the large holders prove right, though it can also simply reflect long-term holders averaging into a continued decline.
The honest framing is that these catalysts are real, but their effects are conditional, and none of them individually guarantees a direction; collectively, they will determine whether XRP’s year-end print lands in the bearish, base, or bullish zone. For a token that has already spent its biggest catalysts, the marginal mover from here is most likely the combination of ETF-flow momentum and the market’s evolving answer to the value-accrual question.
Three scenarios for XRP at year-end 2026 Drawing the analysis into scenarios clarifies the range. In the bull scenario, XRP finishes 2026 somewhere between $4 and as high as $8. This requires ETF inflows to accelerate meaningfully, the CLARITY Act or similar to pass and unlock institutional capital, an altcoin-favorable market phase to arrive, and growing confidence that XRP the token genuinely captures Ripple’s settlement volume. It is the path the most bullish credible forecasts describe, and it depends on the value-accrual question resolving in XRP’s favor while macro conditions turn supportive. It is achievable but conditional, and the bar is high given that XRP has already spent its legal and ETF-launch catalysts.
In the base scenario, the most heavily populated by serious forecasts, XRP recovers modestly to roughly $1.40 to $2.80. Support holds, the broader market steadies, ETF interest continues at a moderate pace, and XRP grinds back toward and possibly through its key moving averages without entering a new bull phase, with Standard Chartered’s $2.80 marking the credible upper edge. This recovery-without-breakout outcome fits the weight of model-based and institutional forecasting and is arguably the most likely central case. In the bear scenario, XRP finishes below $1. Macro conditions deteriorate, or ETF flows disappoint; the market comes to doubt that the token captures the network’s volume, support breaks, and XRP drifts lower as the structural skeptics’ thesis gains traction, validating the bearish models that project outright losses.
Which scenario unfolds depends primarily on ETF-flow momentum, regulatory progress, the macro backdrop, and above all the market’s evolving judgment on whether XRP the token captures the volume Ripple is winning. All 3 are live, and the wide gap between them is the most honest description of where XRP stands.
Frequently Asked Questions Where could XRP end 2026? The credible range is unusually wide, from below $1 to $8. Bearish models and some technical systems point below $1 if support breaks and the market doubts the token captures value. The base case, where most serious forecasts cluster, sees a modest recovery to roughly $1.40 to $2.80, with Standard Chartered’s $2.80 as the credible upper edge. The bullish case of $4 to $8 requires accelerating ETF inflows, regulatory progress, an altcoin-favorable market, and growing confidence that XRP captures Ripple’s settlement volume. The outcome depends on those catalysts and, above all, on the market’s evolving answer to whether the token, not just the network, captures value.
Why has XRP fallen to $1? XRP is down from a July 2025 cycle high near $3.66, sliding through the back half of last year and the first half of 2026 amid broad crypto weakness. Part of the frustration is that XRP cleared its biggest catalysts: the SEC lawsuit concluded in 2025, and spot ETFs launched that November, yet the price still fell, which suggests the good news may have been priced in or overwhelmed by market conditions. The deeper question is structural: skeptics argue Ripple’s commercial success does not necessarily force sustained demand into the XRP token, especially with Ripple’s own dollar stablecoin offering a token-free settlement path. That value-accrual doubt, plus a Bitcoin-dominated risk-off market, has weighed on the price.
Why did Standard Chartered cut its XRP target? Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s digital-assets research lead, had set an $8 year-end 2026 target for XRP based on expectations of sustained ETF inflows and post-settlement regulatory clarity. As 2026 progressed and XRP failed to sustain the aggressive assumptions behind that number, he cut the year-end target to $2.80, fitting the broader crypto weakness this year. Notably, he kept his $28 target for 2030 unchanged, which captures the split in serious XRP analysis between near-term caution and long-term conviction. The cut matters because it came from a credible institutional bull recalibrating to reality, which makes $2.80 a grounded benchmark and the effective ceiling of the base case instead of the floor of the bull case.
Can XRP reach $5 or more in 2026? It is possible but conditional on several things aligning. The bullish forecasts of $4.36 to $8 assume ETF inflows accelerate substantially, the CLARITY Act or similar passes and unlocks institutional capital, the market rotates into an altcoin-favorable phase, and XRP demonstrably converts Ripple’s settlement footprint into sustained token demand. As analysts who have studied the range put it, a move to $2 to $3 needs stabilization, ETF support, and better sentiment, while $5 or higher needs a stronger shift in market structure, institutional demand, and proven token utility. The bar is high because XRP has already spent its biggest catalysts, so reaching the bull range requires new, larger drivers instead of a simple market rebound.
What is the value-accrual question for XRP? It is the single question underneath every XRP price target: whether the XRP token itself, not just Ripple’s network, captures the cross-border payment and settlement volume flowing through it. Bitwise’s formal model shows why it matters so much, producing 2030 outcomes from about $0.13 to above $29, a more than 200-fold gap driven entirely by this assumption. The high case assumes XRP becomes the bridge asset institutional value routes through; the low case assumes banks and dollar stablecoins, including Ripple’s own, move the money while XRP is bypassed. Because Ripple can conduct much settlement without participants holding XRP for long, the mechanism forcing demand into the token is contested, which is why forecasts diverge so violently.
Are whales accumulating XRP? On-chain data shows XRP whale wallet counts at record highs even as retail sentiment sits in fear, a contrarian divergence in which large holders appear to be accumulating while smaller holders capitulate. Bulls read this as strategic positioning ahead of a potential reversal, on the logic that large, informed holders are buying weakness. The cautionary reading is that record whale accumulation can also reflect long-term holders averaging into a continued decline that does not reverse on schedule, so it is a supportive signal instead of a guarantee. It is one of the more constructive data points in XRP’s current setup, but like every catalyst here, its payoff depends on the broader market and the value-accrual question resolving
This article is information, not financial or investment advice. XRP price levels, indicator readings, and analyst forecasts reflect data available as of June 28, 2026, are point-in-time, and can change rapidly. Cryptocurrency is highly volatile, and you can lose money. Price predictions are inherently uncertain, and the scenarios described are not guarantees. Do your own research and consult a qualified financial professional before making any investment decision.
The proposal aims to give XRPL users guaranteed execution priority if they pay a reservation fee before a ledger closes.
David Schwartz, who co-founded the XRP Ledger, has proposed a transaction reservation scheme as a potential fix for front-running on the network’s decentralized exchange and automated market maker.
His proposal was in response to a post from the XRP-focused account XRPresso.io, which argued that validators and well-connected nodes can exploit pre-validation transaction visibility to extract value from regular traders.
Front-Running Concerns on XRPL According to XRPresso, transfers usually sit in a publicly visible queue before a ledger closes on the XRPL, with validators and some nodes able to see these pending trades. As such, they are in a position to assess whether sandwiching them would be profitable, and then to submit multiple entries to game their position in the final canonical ordering.
And because that ordering is decided by a known, deterministic formula involving transaction hashes, submitting similar entries increases the odds of landing in a favorable slot relative to the target trade. That, as XRPresso claimed, could see everyday users trading through standard wallets and apps getting systematically disadvantaged while more sophisticated operators extract value from their trades.
Schwartz acknowledged that the issue is real but pushed back on parts of the framing. He pointed out that all participants have an equal opportunity to see transfers and argued that validators don’t gain any structural advantage unless several of them conspire. Such an action, he said, would be visible on-chain and lead to the removal of the offending validators from the trust lists.
“If multiple validators did conspire, or a single validator attempted it, it would be *very* obvious to everyone exactly who was doing this,” he wrote.
Furthermore, he said that there have never been any reports of anyone attempting something like that, except as a proof of concept. The biggest issue, according to him, has been profitability, since to make money, the actors would need both high liquidity that would make volumes worth the effort available and low liquidity to move the price measurably and at a reasonable cost.
Still, he offered a solution in which a user would submit a reservation transaction specifying a ledger sequence number and a transaction ID, and pay a reservation fee. If the reservation succeeds and the actual activity is broadcast before that ledger closes, it gets guaranteed priority over any other formed after the original was disclosed.
You may also like: ZachXBT Warns AscendEX Users of Potential Liquidity Issues and Delayed Withdrawals Market Meltdown: MemeCore Crashes 76% as MIM Breaks Peg to $0.50 Important Ripple (XRP) Deadline Concerning Many Users “This guarantees that you can execute your transaction ahead of any transaction that was formed after your transaction was disclosed,” explained the developer. “You would use this approach any time you want to perform a transaction that you want to ensure cannot be sandwiched or front run.”
The Front-Running Debate in DeFi XRPresso responded that while Schwartz’s reservation idea is worth exploring, it would add cost and complexity and does not fully address the underlying visibility problem in the pre-validation stage. According to them, targeted confidentiality for the details of pending actions would be a cleaner long-term fix, with such approaches already being used on other chains.
The front-running problem isn’t unique to the XRP ecosystem, and Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao proposed a dark pool perpetuals DEX last year that uses zero-knowledge cryptography to hide order data until execution. That idea drew criticism too, with some decentralization advocates claiming that hiding order books will just recreate the insider dynamics that crypto was meant to move away from.
Ripple’s worldwide regulatory approach is getting a new look as market participants wait for the U.S. CLARITY Act to move forward. Some analysts believe that the business is building the groundwork for the large-scale adoption of XRP by institutions prior to the legislation.
Ripple Plans For Mega XRP Adoption Amid CLARITY Act Hype Crypto Crusader, a crypto analyst, recently made a statement on X, asserting that investors are more interested in XRP’s short-term price movements rather than its overall expansion. He wrote, “People are missing the big picture behind Ripple & XRP right now.”
The analyst noted that Ripple is meeting regulatory requirements in various countries around the world. These include Europe, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, UAE, Africa, Singapore, and the United States.
Such advances are far from stand-alone approvals, per the post. He stated that he was writing, “Ripple locking in global markets right before Clarity hits.
People are missing the big picture behind Ripple & $XRP right now.
Instead of crying in the casino about price action, you should research what the house is doing…
Ripple has been announcing regulatory moves one after another globally. Europe, Japan, Australia, United…
— Nick | Crypto Crusader (@NCashOfficial) June 29, 2026
Crypto Crusader also wrote that Ripple is “planting seeds for institutional adoption of XRP globally before the real green light happens.” He added that once the CLARITY Act becomes law, “there is absolutely nothing holding back Ripple & XRP adoption.”
What’s Next For Crypto Market Structure Bill? The comments follow the CLARITY Act’s crucial phase in Washington. The U.S. Senate is still in recess until July 13, but talks are still ongoing between crypto industry representatives, administration officials, and congressional staff.
Talks are focused on combining differing committee drafts, as well as on differences regarding ethics rules, anti-money laundering requirements, and the regulation of digital assets markets.
Lawmakers will return and first consider the National Defense Authorization Act, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said. This has put crypto legislation back on hold until late July or early August. Many are feeling that there’s a need to pass the bill before the start of Congress’ August recess to keep momentum going.
XRP’s Technical Setup In Focus The technical sentiment of Ripple’s XRP has also shifted to more positive territory at the same time. Ali Martinez, a crypto analyst, stated that the daily chart of XRP is showing “two bullish signals.” The Tom DeMark Sequential indicator has formed a buy signal with a “9” candlestick. In the past, it has led up to short-term rebounds, Martinez said.
The Morning Star Doji pattern also emerged, a chart pattern that is frequently used to identify possible market reversals, Martinez added. He said that this would be bolstered by increased buying if the trend on the positive side is sustained, which would allow for the possibility of moving to $1.30.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
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TL;DR Institutional products tied to Bitcoin and Ethereum reportedly saw net outflows. XRP and HYPE wrappers attracted inflows during the same period. The divergence points to a more selective crypto market, where investors are not treating every asset the same way. Institutions Are Not Just Buying Or Selling Crypto As One Trade Institutional investors reportedly reduced exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF products while still adding to XRP and HYPE-linked wrappers.
That is a more interesting story than a simple “institutions dumped crypto” headline. The flow picture suggests that investors are becoming selective. They may be cutting broad exposure to the two largest crypto assets while still looking for targeted opportunities elsewhere.
For Bitcoin and Ethereum, outflows are never a great signal in the short term. These products are major access points for traditional capital, and sustained redemptions can weigh on sentiment. But the fact that XRP and HYPE products saw inflows at the same time shows that the entire sector is not being abandoned.
Why Selective Flows Matter Crypto traders often talk about risk-on and risk-off as if the whole market moves together. That is still true during major volatility events, but flow data can reveal a more detailed picture underneath.
If investors are selling BTC and ETH exposure but buying XRP and HYPE, they may be rotating away from broad market beta and toward specific narratives. XRP has its payments and legal-resolution storyline. HYPE has become tied to the Hyperliquid ecosystem and more specialized on-chain trading demand.
That kind of split matters because it changes how traders should think about the market. The question is not just “are institutions bullish on crypto?” It becomes “which crypto exposures are institutions willing to hold during stress?”
That is a much more useful question. It also means Bitcoin dominance, Ethereum sentiment, and altcoin flows may give different signals at the same time.
The Risk In Reading Too Much Into It There is a caveat. Smaller products can show impressive inflows without matching the absolute scale of Bitcoin or Ethereum ETF flows. A modest inflow into an altcoin wrapper does not cancel out much larger outflows from BTC or ETH products.
So the takeaway should be measured. This is not proof that institutions are rotating into altcoins en masse. It is evidence that some targeted altcoin demand has remained active while broad crypto exposure has weakened.
For Bitcoin and Ethereum, the next test is whether outflows slow. For XRP and HYPE, the test is whether inflows continue once the market stabilizes or if they were simply temporary pockets of interest.
The market message is still useful: institutional crypto demand is no longer one-dimensional. Investors are not just buying the whole sector or selling the whole sector. They are separating assets, narratives, and wrappers — and that makes flow data more important than ever.
For readers, the useful approach is to treat this as a signal to monitor rather than a standalone trading call, because confirmation still has to come from follow-through in price, flows, and broader market behavior.
—
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
Bitcoin is caught between a resistance zone and building liquidity above, while Ethereum mirrors a familiar February structure and XRP shows early signs of seller exhaustion.
Bitcoin: $60.5K to $61K Is the Wall
On the three-day chart, Bitcoin is holding above $60,000 without a confirmed candle close below. If that level breaks with confirmation and fails to be reclaimed, the next meaningful support sits at $54,000 to $55,000.
A bullish divergence is visible across the 12-hour, eight-hour, and daily timeframes, with lower price lows and higher RSI lows. That signal helped produce a short-term relief from recent extreme selling pressure. However, that relief has stalled directly at the $60,500 to $61,000 resistance zone, where previous support has flipped into resistance.
The liquidation heatmap shows significant liquidity clustered above at $62,000 and between $63,200 and $63,500, making a push toward $62,000 plausible once resistance clears. A smaller but growing liquidity pocket is also building below at $58,000, which becomes a target if stocks open weakly on Monday.
The weekly timeframe shows a large bullish divergence forming but not yet confirmed. The super trend indicator remains red.
Ethereum: Repeating February’s Pattern
Ethereum is holding the $1,500 to $1,600 support zone on the three-day chart. The daily chart closely mirrors the February structure, with horizontal lows, an oversold first low, and a higher RSI low suggesting early momentum recovery.
If the pattern continues to echo February, choppy sideways action or a modest relief rally could follow over the coming days. However, if stocks drag Bitcoin back toward $58,000 on Monday, Ethereum is unlikely to sustain any recovery regardless of its own setup.
XRP: Sellers Losing Steam, Not the Battle
XRP’s weekly trend remains technically bearish with no confirmed bottom. Support sits between $0.90 and $1.00, with the recent bounce from almost exactly $1.00. Resistance sits at $1.13.
The past two days have produced extremely small candle bodies, a classic outcome of a bullish divergence. Sellers are losing momentum rather than buyers taking control. Flat price action is the most likely outcome ahead of Monday’s stock market open.
What to Watch
Monday’s US market open is the single most important near-term catalyst. A stable open gives Bitcoin room to target the $62,000 liquidity zone. A weak open risks a move back to $58,000 and invalidates the short-term recovery signals across all three assets.
Story Ends Here
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Bitcoin climbed back above $60,000 after Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) unveiled its BTC monetization and capital restructuring program, easing near-term concerns and supporting a rebound in crypto sentiment.
Notable Statistics:
Coinglass data shows 86,762 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $355.22 million. SoSoValue data shows net outflows of $444.5 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs on Friday. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net outflows of $12.9 million. In the past 24 hours, top losers include MemeCore, Velvet and Pi. Notable Developments:
Trader Notes:
Analyst Ted Pillows noted that Bitcoin recorded its first weekly close below $60,000 in nearly two years, signaling a significant technical breakdown.
He also pointed to continued spot Bitcoin ETF selling and the prospect of Strategy selling Bitcoin as additional headwinds, arguing BTC is likely to fall toward $50,000 before eventually rallying to $100,000.
Trader Justin Bennett said Bitcoin’s first weekly close of the year below $60,000 reflects persistent bearish market structure despite expected end-of-month and quarter-end institutional positioning.
A short-term relief rally or bullish reversal is possible.
Expert Benjamin Cowen pointed out that Bitcoin posted a weekly close below its 200-week moving average, calling it another example of the recurring four-year market cycle.
He also noted that the first weekly close below the 200-week moving average during the 2022 bear market likewise occurred in June, suggesting a historical parallel with the current price action.
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Arthur Hayes, a well-known figure in the cryptocurrency market, criticized XRP and ADA, both of which have strong communities.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has leveled harsh criticism against Cardano (ADA) and Ripple (XRP).
Hayes argued that while neither project produced anything tangible, their strong communities allowed them to maintain their presence in the market in the long term.
Hayes, in his assessment of Cardano and Ripple, stated, “Cardano and Ripple are absolutely doing nothing. But if the community gets rich along with the founders, it will stay with you forever.” According to Hayes, ADA will likely remain among the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization even 15 years from now, and its supporters will continue to defend the project.
Hayes further intensified his criticism of Cardano, comparing it to AI stocks and arguing that ADA fails to generate fundamental value. Hayes stated, “An AI stock at least has some fundamentals. Cardano had a chance to revive its fundamentals. At least SK Hynix generates revenue and profit. ADA does absolutely nothing; it promised the world and delivered none of it.”
Hayes stated that Cardano’s long presence on the market and its significant price increases in the past have kept community support alive. However, he argued that the project has not met expectations on the technical development side.
Hayes stated, “Cardano is garbage, they haven’t done anything. The best thing about it was its initially good tokenomics. ADA has been on the market for a long time, its price has risen a lot, so people like it. Smart contracts? Never. What real progress has been made? Zero.”
*This is not investment advice.
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Bitcoin (BTC) is showing renewed signs of recovery, approaching the $60,000 mark at the time of writing on Monday. Among altcoins, Ethereum (ETH) is positioned for a potential breakout above $1,600, while Ripple (XRP) continues to face bearish pressure, holding just above the key $1.00 psychological support.
US and Iran halt attacks, agree to renew peace negotiationsThe United States (US) and Iran exchanged fire near the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reported strikes against US military installations in neighboring countries, such as Kuwait and Bahrain, in response to recent US attacks on Iranian targets.
Iran has doubled down on its demand for a full withdrawal of Israeli Forces from Lebanon as part of the final Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the US.
A US official confirmed on Sunday that both the US and Iran have agreed to de-escalate military actions and permit unrestricted movement of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
Ongoing technical discussions related to the MoU are expected to continue, with both parties scheduled to meet in Doha on Tuesday for further negotiations, according to Axios.
Sentiment in the broader crypto market has deteriorated further despite easing tensions between the US and Iran.
The crypto Fear & Greed Index is stuck in Extreme Fear territory at 12 on Monday, down from 18 the day before. This decline indicates that appetite for risk assets continues to diminish, weighed down by macro and geopolitical uncertainty.
Crypto Fear & Greed Index | Source: AlternativePrice analysis: Bitcoin builds momentumBitcoin trades at $59,888, rising slightly after last week's persistent sell-off. The Crypto King eyes a short-term breakout above the next hurdle at $60,000.
Meanwhile, the upside remains limited as BTC holds below the Bollinger middle band at $62,838, the 50-day, 100-day and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), which collectively reinforce the downside bias.
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) histogram is marginally negative on the daily chart, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 32 hovers just above oversold territory, hinting that bearish momentum is dominant but may be nearing exhaustion rather than showing fresh selling pressure.
BTC/USDT daily chartOn the downside, immediate support aligns with the Bollinger lower band near $58,633, where sellers could pause before attempting deeper extension. Conversely, Bitcoin faces immediate resistance at the Bollinger middle band near $62,838, with additional hurdles at the 50-day EMA ($66,963) and the Bollinger upper band at $67,043. Should these levels be surpassed, further resistance is seen at the 100-day EMA ($70,587), the descending trendline at $75,625, and the 200-day EMA at $76,539, which marks a critical threshold for reversing the broader bearish trend.
Altcoins technical outlook: Ethereum rebounds as XRP seeks supportEthereum trades at $1,574, edging slightly higher from previous week's dominant sell-off. Despite the mild gains, ETH holds below all major moving averages, which define a broader bearish trend.
Meanwhile, ETH sits below the Bollinger middle band at $1,673, highlighting ongoing downside pressure inside the volatility envelope, while the lower band at $1,528 offers the nearest cushion.
The MACD histogram holds in negative territory on the daily chart, hinting at weak bearish momentum rather than an impulsive selloff, as the RSI hovers around 30, flirting with oversold conditions that could slow the slide but not yet reverse the trend.
ETH/USDT daily chartInitial resistance emerges at the Bollinger middle band near $1,673, followed by the upper band at $1,818 and the 50-day EMA at $1,833, which collectively cap any recovery attempts. Above these hurdles, a downward-sloping resistance trendline comes into play around the break price at $1,963, before the 100-day EMA at $2,010 and the 200-day EMA at $2,291 reinforce a heavier supply zone.
Looking down, immediate support lies at the Bollinger lower band around $1,528. A daily close below this floor would open the door to fresh lows, while holding above it would keep Ethereum in a weak, but stabilizing, consolidation within the lower half of its recent range.
XRP, on the other hand, trades at $1.04, extending its slide well below major moving averages, which are keeping the near-term bias firmly bearish. The remittance token is also trading beneath the Bollinger Bands’ middle boundary at $1.12 and the upper band near $1.24.
At the same time, the MACD indicator remains slightly negative on the daily chart, hinting that downside momentum persists even as the RSI near 32 approaches oversold territory.
XRP/USDT daily chartOn the downside, immediate support lies around the Bollinger Bands’ lower boundary at $1.01, with the current level at $1.04 acting as a fragile pivot above that zone. On the topside, initial resistance is seen at the Bollinger middle band at $1.12, ahead of the upper band and the descending trendline break region clustered around $1.24. Further up, the 50-day EMA at $1.21, the 100-day EMA at $1.31 and the 200-day EMA at $1.53 define successive overhead barriers that would need to be reclaimed to ease the prevailing bearish pressure.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)
Bitcoin, altcoins, stablecoins FAQs Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, a virtual currency designed to serve as money. This form of payment cannot be controlled by any one person, group, or entity, which eliminates the need for third-party participation during financial transactions.
Altcoins are any cryptocurrency apart from Bitcoin, but some also regard Ethereum as a non-altcoin because it is from these two cryptocurrencies that forking happens. If this is true, then Litecoin is the first altcoin, forked from the Bitcoin protocol and, therefore, an “improved” version of it.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to have a stable price, with their value backed by a reserve of the asset it represents. To achieve this, the value of any one stablecoin is pegged to a commodity or financial instrument, such as the US Dollar (USD), with its supply regulated by an algorithm or demand. The main goal of stablecoins is to provide an on/off-ramp for investors willing to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins also allow investors to store value since cryptocurrencies, in general, are subject to volatility.
Bitcoin dominance is the ratio of Bitcoin's market capitalization to the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies combined. It provides a clear picture of Bitcoin’s interest among investors. A high BTC dominance typically happens before and during a bull run, in which investors resort to investing in relatively stable and high market capitalization cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. A drop in BTC dominance usually means that investors are moving their capital and/or profits to altcoins in a quest for higher returns, which usually triggers an explosion of altcoin rallies.
Ripple says it has more than 300 institutional partners. The XRP community hears that as 300 banks buying XRP. The reality is that most of them use Ripple’s software without ever touching the token, and even the ones that do rarely hold it. This is the structural gap at the heart of why XRP’s price stays stuck while Ripple keeps winning.
Summary
Ripple has more than 300 institutional partners, but roughly 60 percent use its messaging and software rails without ever touching XRP, while only about 40 percent use the On-Demand Liquidity product that involves the token. Even the partners that use On-Demand Liquidity generally do not hold XRP, because licensed exchanges and market makers handle the buying and selling, and the banks see only fiat in and fiat out. This split is the mechanical explanation for the long-standing gap between Ripple’s corporate success and XRP’s stuck price, since network adoption does not automatically translate into sustained token demand. The bullish rebuttal is that On-Demand Liquidity volume is real where it runs, that even momentary XRP demand creates buy pressure, and that token demand can come from ETF flows and regulation independent of settlement. For holders, the honest read is that partner counts measure Ripple’s business, not XRP demand, and the token’s fate depends on whether the On-Demand Liquidity share grows and its volume scales, plus channels like ETFs and regulatory clarity. Ripple likes to say it has more than three hundred institutional partners, and the number sounds like exactly the validation XRP holders have waited years to see: hundreds of banks and payment companies, all signed up to Ripple, all presumably driving demand for the token. That is how the figure is usually heard in the community, as three hundred institutions buying and using XRP. The reality is very different, and confronting it honestly is essential for anyone who holds the token.
The large majority of Ripple’s partners use the company’s messaging and payment software without ever touching XRP, and even among the minority that use the product built around the token, almost none actually hold XRP. The partner count measures the size of Ripple’s business, not the demand for its associated asset, and the gap between those two things is the single best explanation for one of the most frustrating puzzles in crypto: why XRP’s price has stayed pinned near a dollar through 2026 even as Ripple racks up settlement deals, bank partnerships, and institutional wins.
This is not an argument that Ripple is failing or that XRP is worthless. It is an argument that the popular story, in which corporate adoption mechanically pulls the token price up with it, rests on a misunderstanding of how Ripple’s products actually work. There are really two Ripples: one that sells messaging and payment software to banks, which does not require XRP, and one that offers a liquidity service that uses XRP as a bridge, which does. Most partners signed up for the first. Understanding that split, and what it means for whether Ripple’s success ever reaches the token, is the purpose of this piece.
It covers the two different products Ripple sells, why even the token-using product rarely puts XRP on a bank’s balance sheet, the value-accrual problem this creates, the genuine bull-case rebuttal, the geographic concentration of the volume that does exist, and what would actually have to change for Ripple’s growth to start pulling XRP demand with it. The goal is to give holders an accurate map of where the token stands in Ripple’s empire, rather than the flattering version the partner count implies.
There are two different Ripples The root of the confusion is that Ripple sells more than one thing, and only some of what it sells involves XRP. For most of its history, Ripple’s core enterprise offering has had two distinct components. The first is messaging and payment-connectivity software, historically associated with products that let banks send payment instructions and connect to one another more efficiently than the old correspondent system allows.
This software improves how banks communicate and process cross-border payments, but it does not require XRP at all; a bank can adopt it, become a Ripple partner, and never go near the token. The second component is On-Demand Liquidity, or ODL, the service that actually uses XRP as a bridge asset to move value between currencies without pre-funded accounts. ODL is the part of Ripple’s business that creates real XRP usage.
The crucial fact is how Ripple’s partners split between these two. By most accounts, only around forty percent of Ripple’s roughly three hundred partners use On-Demand Liquidity, the XRP-based product, while the other sixty percent or so use the messaging and software rails that do not touch XRP at all. So when the community hears three hundred partners and pictures three hundred sources of XRP demand, the accurate picture is closer to a bit more than a hundred partners using the token-based product, and a larger group using Ripple software that bypasses XRP entirely.
This is not hidden or scandalous; it simply reflects that many institutions wanted Ripple’s payments technology without taking on a volatile crypto asset. But it has enormous implications for the token, because it means the headline partner count overstates XRP demand by a wide margin. A bank can be a proud, public Ripple partner and contribute precisely nothing to XRP usage, and many are exactly that. The first step to understanding XRP’s stuck price is to stop counting all of Ripple’s partners as XRP customers, because most of them are not.
Even ODL partners do not hold XRP It would be natural to assume that the forty percent of partners using On-Demand Liquidity are therefore buying and holding XRP, generating steady demand, but even that is largely not the case, and the reason cuts to the core of the value-accrual problem. The way ODL works, banks do not generally buy or hold XRP themselves. Instead, licensed exchanges and liquidity providers sit in the middle of the transaction.
When a bank uses ODL to send value across a corridor, the source currency is converted into XRP, the XRP moves across the ledger in seconds, and it is converted into the destination currency on the other side, but this buying and selling is handled by market makers and exchanges, not by the bank. From the bank’s perspective, it puts fiat in on one side and receives fiat out on the other, never holding the token in between. The XRP is touched only momentarily, by the liquidity providers facilitating the swap, before it is converted back.
This structure is deliberate and is actually part of ODL’s appeal to institutions: it lets banks access the speed and capital efficiency of XRP-based settlement while staying in their regulatory comfort zone, seeing only fiat on their books and never holding a volatile crypto asset. For the banks, that is a feature.
For XRP holders hoping that institutional adoption means institutions accumulating XRP, it is a disappointment, because it means even the token-using corner of Ripple’s business does not create the kind of sustained, buy-and-hold demand that would steadily lift the price. The demand ODL creates is real but fleeting: XRP is bought and sold in the same moment to bridge a payment, generating transactional throughput rather than lasting accumulation.
The momentary buying does create some genuine buy pressure, which the bull case rightly emphasizes, but it is a different and weaker force than the image of banks adding XRP to their reserves. So the picture sharpens: most partners do not touch XRP, and most of those that do touch it only in passing, through intermediaries, without ever holding it.
The value-accrual problem this creates Put these facts together and you arrive at the deepest issue in the entire XRP story, the one that explains the stuck price more convincingly than any other: the problem of how value accrues to the token. A blockchain network, or in this case a payments business built around a token, can grow impressively while the token itself fails to capture that growth, if the activity does not translate into sustained demand for the asset.
That is precisely the situation the two-Ripples split creates. Ripple the company can keep signing partners, opening corridors, and processing more payments, and most of that growth flows through software that bypasses XRP or through an ODL process that touches XRP only momentarily via intermediaries. The corporate success is real, but the channel connecting it to token demand is far narrower than the partner count suggests.
This is the mechanical explanation for the puzzle that has frustrated XRP holders all year: Ripple keeps winning, and XRP keeps trading near a dollar beneath its major moving averages. The wins are concentrated in parts of the business that do not require holding the token, so they do not generate the buy-and-hold demand that would lift the price.
Layered on top is XRP’s large supply, including the enormous quantity Ripple holds in escrow and periodically releases, which means that even meaningful transactional demand must contend with substantial available supply. For demand to overwhelm that supply and move the price durably, the token would need usage on a scale that the current adoption pattern, heavy on XRP-free software and light on XRP accumulation, does not produce.
None of this means XRP cannot rise; it means the path from Ripple’s business growth to XRP’s price is not the automatic, mechanical link the bullish narrative assumes. The token does not appreciate simply because Ripple succeeds. It would appreciate if usage of the specific XRP-based product grew large enough that the momentary demand it generates, compounded across enormous volume, finally outweighed the supply. That is a much higher bar than signing the three-hundredth partner.
The escrow overhang that makes it worse There is a supply-side dimension to the value-accrual problem that deserves its own attention, because it raises the bar that token demand must clear. A very large quantity of XRP sits in escrow controlled by Ripple, released into the market on a schedule over time, and this steady stream of new available supply is a structural feature of the token that has no equivalent in a fixed-supply asset. Whatever demand the network generates, whether the momentary buying of On-Demand Liquidity or the buy-and-hold demand of ETFs, must contend not only with the XRP already circulating but with the additional supply that periodically enters from escrow. This is part of why even real demand has struggled to move the price durably: it is pushing against a supply that keeps replenishing.
The interaction between the demand pattern and the supply schedule is the crux. If the token-using share of Ripple’s business were large and growing fast, the transactional demand it generates might comfortably absorb the escrow releases and then some, letting the price rise. But because most of Ripple’s activity bypasses the token, and the part that uses it does so only momentarily through intermediaries, the demand side has been too thin to overwhelm the supply side decisively. The result is a token that can trade sideways even during periods of corporate success, because the modest, fleeting demand from settlement is roughly matched by available and incoming supply.
Critics of Ripple have long pointed to the escrow releases as a persistent headwind, while the company argues the releases are managed responsibly and that it has an incentive not to suppress its own largest holding. Either way, the practical point for holders is that the value-accrual gap is not only about weak demand capture; it is about weak demand capture meeting a large and replenishing supply, which together explain why the price has been so resistant to the steady drumbeat of adoption headlines. For the token to break higher durably, demand would need to grow enough to clear both the circulating float and the escrow overhang at once, which is a higher bar than demand alone.
The bull case deserves a fair hearing The picture so far is sobering, but the bullish rebuttal is substantive and deserves a fair hearing, because the situation is not as one-sided as the skeptical read alone implies. The first point in XRP’s favor is that the momentary demand ODL creates is still real demand. Every time the XRP-based product bridges a payment, XRP is genuinely bought, even if it is sold moments later, and at sufficient volume that continuous buying and selling represents real, ongoing market activity rather than nothing.
If the corridors using ODL grow and the volume flowing through them scales up, the cumulative buy pressure from all that bridging could become a meaningful force, particularly because it recurs constantly instead of being a one-time event. The bull case holds that the token-touching share of Ripple’s business is the part that matters, and that as it grows, so does the demand that flows through XRP.
The second point is that the forty percent is not fixed. Partners that adopted Ripple’s messaging software first can later convert to On-Demand Liquidity, and Ripple has every incentive to push that conversion, since it is the largest holder of XRP and benefits directly when XRP usage rises. If a meaningful share of the messaging-only majority converts to the XRP-based product over time, the demand base expands substantially.
The third and perhaps strongest point is that settlement throughput is not the only channel to XRP demand. The forces most capable of moving XRP, the institutional flows into spot ETFs and the regulatory clarity that the CLARITY Act would provide, operate largely independent of whether banks hold XRP in their settlement flows. ETF demand is buy-and-hold demand of exactly the kind ODL does not generate, and it has already drawn over a billion dollars into XRP funds.
Tokenized real-world assets settling on the XRP Ledger represent another growing source of activity. So the bull case is that the partner-count critique, while accurate about settlement mechanics, misses the channels, ETFs and regulation, that could drive XRP regardless of how banks handle their payment corridors. These are genuine counterpoints, and an honest holder should weigh them against the structural concern instead of dismissing either.
The geographic reality nobody mentions A further dimension that rarely makes it into the bull-or-bear debate is where Ripple’s XRP-based volume actually flows, and it complicates the global-rail narrative in an important way. On-Demand Liquidity has been live in production for years, but its real usage has been concentrated in specific cross-border corridors instead of spread evenly across global finance.
The meaningful volume has historically clustered in particular regions, such as certain Middle East and Southeast Asia corridors, and more recently in Latin American routes involving institutions like Braza Bank and Mexican corridors involving Bitso. These are real flows with real value, and the busiest names on the XRP Ledger include identifiable financial institutions instead of anonymous wallets, which is a genuine point in the network’s favor. But the volume is geographically concentrated, not the worldwide banking rail the headline narrative implies.
This concentration matters for two reasons. First, it means XRP’s settlement demand depends heavily on a relatively small set of corridors, so the token’s utility-driven demand is less diversified and more exposed to the fortunes of those specific routes than a global-rail framing would suggest. Second, in the corridors where institutional settlement does happen on-chain, XRP increasingly competes for share against alternatives, including dollar stablecoins like USDC and Ripple’s own RLUSD, as well as emerging central-bank digital-currency projects, according to blockchain-analytics observations.
So even within the settlement niche where XRP is used, it is not unchallenged; it is one option competing for institutional flow against instruments that offer dollar stability. The honest synthesis is that XRP’s real settlement footprint is meaningful but concentrated and contested, which is a more accurate and more modest picture than the image of a token quietly powering the world’s bank transfers. For holders, this is another reason to track the actual volume in the actual corridors instead of the partner count or the global ambition.
What would actually change the picture If the partner count is the wrong thing to watch, the natural question is what the right things are, and identifying them gives holders a far better framework than counting Ripple’s deals. The first and most direct change would be conversion: the messaging-only majority of partners moving onto On-Demand Liquidity, which would expand the share of Ripple’s business that actually uses XRP.
Watching whether the roughly forty percent figure grows over time is more informative than watching the total partner number rise, because growth in the token-using share is what expands XRP demand. The second is volume: even within the existing ODL base, the total value flowing through XRP-bridged corridors is what generates the cumulative buy pressure, so rising corridor volume matters more than new logos. A handful of high-volume corridors can move more XRP than dozens of low-volume partnerships.
Beyond settlement, the channels most likely to drive durable XRP demand are the ones that operate independent of how banks handle payments. Spot ETF flows are the clearest, because they represent genuine buy-and-hold demand, and their trajectory, whether they compound or stall, will say more about XRP’s institutional demand than any partner announcement. Regulatory clarity from the CLARITY Act is the second, because codifying XRP’s status could unlock institutional capital that settlement adoption alone never reaches. The growth of tokenized real-world assets on the XRP Ledger is a third, since it brings a different kind of activity and demand to the network.
The honest framework for a holder is therefore to stop treating Ripple’s partner count and corporate wins as proxies for XRP demand, because most of that activity bypasses or only momentarily touches the token, and to focus instead on the metrics that actually connect to demand: the ODL share and its volume, ETF flows, regulatory progress, and on-chain asset growth. The partner count tells you Ripple is a successful company. It tells you very little about whether XRP, the token, is capturing that success, which is the only question that matters for the price.
Frequently Asked Questions Do banks that partner with Ripple actually use XRP? Mostly not. Ripple has more than three hundred institutional partners, but only around forty percent use On-Demand Liquidity, the product that involves XRP as a bridge asset. The other sixty percent or so use Ripple’s messaging and payment software, which does not touch XRP at all. So a large majority of Ripple’s partners can be active customers without ever using the token. This is the key reason the partner count overstates XRP demand: many partners signed up for Ripple’s payments technology specifically without taking on a volatile crypto asset, and they contribute nothing to XRP usage despite being counted as partners.
If a bank uses On-Demand Liquidity, does it hold XRP? Generally no, and this surprises many people. In On-Demand Liquidity, banks do not buy or hold XRP themselves. Licensed exchanges and liquidity providers handle the conversion: the source currency becomes XRP, the XRP moves across the ledger in seconds, and it is converted to the destination currency, all managed by market makers. The bank sees only fiat in and fiat out, never holding the token. This is deliberate, letting banks access XRP-based settlement speed while staying in their regulatory comfort zone. The result is that even the token-using part of Ripple’s business creates only momentary, transactional XRP demand instead of the buy-and-hold accumulation that would steadily lift the price.
Why does XRP’s price stay stuck if Ripple is so successful? Because most of Ripple’s success flows through channels that bypass the token or touch it only momentarily. The majority of partners use XRP-free software, and even On-Demand Liquidity touches XRP only in passing through intermediaries, so Ripple’s corporate growth does not mechanically translate into sustained XRP demand. Add XRP’s large supply, including the escrow Ripple periodically releases, and transactional demand has to be very large to move the price durably. This value-accrual gap, between a thriving business and a token that does not capture its success, is the clearest explanation for why XRP has stayed near a dollar through 2026 even as Ripple keeps winning deals.
Is this a reason to be bearish on XRP? Not necessarily, but it is a reason to be realistic about what drives the token. The structural critique shows that partner counts and corporate wins are poor proxies for XRP demand. But the bull case has real merit: On-Demand Liquidity volume is genuine demand where it runs, the token-using share of partners can grow as banks convert from messaging to liquidity, and the strongest demand channels, spot ETF inflows and regulatory clarity from the CLARITY Act, operate independent of bank settlement entirely. So the picture is not simply bearish; it is that XRP’s demand depends on specific things, the growth of On-Demand Liquidity volume and the independent channels of ETFs and regulation, instead of on Ripple’s overall business success.
Where is XRP actually used for settlement? On-Demand Liquidity volume has historically been concentrated in specific cross-border corridors instead of spread across global banking. Meaningful usage has clustered in certain Middle East and Southeast Asia routes and, more recently, Latin American corridors involving institutions such as Braza Bank and Mexican routes involving Bitso. These are real flows, and the busiest names on the XRP Ledger are identifiable financial institutions. But the volume is geographically concentrated, not the worldwide rail the narrative implies, and within those corridors XRP competes for share against dollar stablecoins like USDC and Ripple’s own RLUSD. So XRP’s settlement footprint is meaningful but concentrated and contested instead of dominant.
What should XRP holders watch instead of the partner count? Focus on the metrics that actually connect to token demand. The most direct is the share of partners using On-Demand Liquidity, currently around forty percent; whether that grows matters more than the total partner number. The second is the volume flowing through XRP-bridged corridors, since cumulative throughput is what generates buy pressure. Beyond settlement, watch spot ETF flows, which represent true buy-and-hold demand, regulatory progress on the CLARITY Act, which could unlock institutional capital, and the growth of tokenized assets on the XRP Ledger. These tell you whether XRP the token is capturing demand, which the partner count does not, because most partners never touch XRP.
This article is information, not investment advice. Figures on Ripple’s partners, On-Demand Liquidity usage, and corridor volumes reflect reporting and estimates available as of June 27, 2026, and can change. The relationship between Ripple’s business and XRP demand is a debated topic. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell XRP or any asset. Verify current details from primary sources and consider your own circumstances before making any decision.
