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Ripple closed a $275 million senior notes offering Tuesday through its prime brokerage arm as XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) claws back above $1.

What the $275 Million Offering CoversAccording to a Ripple press release, the private placement of senior unsecured notes through Ripple Prime, its non-bank prime brokerage, attracted a diverse base of institutional investors. 

The offering received an investment grade BBB rating from KBRA and was upsized from its original target. 

Proceeds go toward working capital and general corporate purposes as client demand grows for multi-asset clearing, prime brokerage, and financing services.

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Ripple Prime President Noel Kimmel noted in the release that the strong support for the inaugural offering reflects confidence in Ripple’s long-term vision for the intersection of traditional and digital asset financial infrastructure.

Why Korea Keeps Coming Up for RippleRipple also confirmed Tuesday that Jeonbuk Bank has deployed Ripple Payments for cross-border settlement, becoming the first Korean regional bank to do so. 

As Benzinga reported earlier, this marks Ripple’s third Korean institutional partnership in 2026, following Kyobo Life Insurance on on-chain bond settlement and Kbank on wallet infrastructure and custody.

What the On-Chain Data ShowsCryptoQuant flagged on X that XRP open interest on Binance hit a two-month high, with analyst ArabxChain noting the rise in derivatives participation makes the next price move more significant in either direction.

Meanwhile, analyst ChartNerd noted on X that XRP’s monthly RSI sits at its most oversold level in 13 years. 

The three-month RSI has not yet tagged its historical bottom baseline of 48, suggesting the full reset is close but not complete.

Where XRP Stands TechnicallyXRP holds back above $1 Tuesday, after repeated tests this week. More importantly, price now presses directly into the descending trendline from the May high at $1.55, the same line that has capped every rally since. 

A daily close above $1.03 would mark the first genuine break of this downtrend.

Photo via Shutterstock

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

20h05 ▪ 6 min read ▪ by Luc Jose A.

Summarize this article with:

XRP is approaching a deadline that could put its market under pressure. A new unlocking wave scheduled by Ripple is set to release a massive amount of tokens, while the price is already trading around a sensitive technical level. Behind the spectacular figure of this operation lies a more nuanced reality. Not all unlocked XRP necessarily join the market. Between genuinely available supply, risk of selling pressure, and price fragility, the coming weeks could become decisive for XRP.

In Brief Ripple plans to unlock 1 billion XRP on September 1st. 600 to 800 million XRP are expected to be re-locked, limiting the supply actually injected. 200 to 400 million XRP could enter the market to fund Ripple’s activities and ecosystem. XRP trades around the sensitive $1 threshold, in a fragile technical setup. The Background of a Massive Asset Unlocking by Ripple As September 1st approaches, the American company Ripple prepares to execute a contractual routine established since the end of 2017: the monthly unlocking of one billion XRP tokens freed from its escrow accounts. The company had strategically chosen at the time to isolate 55 billion XRP in fixed-term contracts to bring predictability to the management of its reserves.

At the current price hovering around one dollar per token, this operation represents the theoretical equivalent of one billion dollars injected into the market. However, interpreting these figures does not reflect the operational reality observed on the blockchain. Transaction history shows that the firm systematically re-locks between 600 million and 800 million XRP in new time-lock contracts. Consequently, the actual increase in circulating supply each month is only within the range of 200 million to 400 million XRP.

These resources genuinely integrated into the market are also not intended to be wildly sold on exchange order books. Ripple reinjects those 200 to 400 million dollars of assets to support its overall operational infrastructure, feed its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service, seal institutional partnerships, and fund ecosystem development initiatives. Relative to the global crypto market, this net monthly contribution remains relatively modest.

In comparison, XRP’s daily transaction volume very frequently exceeds the one billion dollar mark on major international exchanges. The highly predictable and planned nature of these issuances historically limits their direct impact on prices. While brief periods of volatility sometimes occur at the unlocking, the market generally tends to stabilize once the amounts re-locked under escrow are confirmed, as institutional investors have factored in this parameter for several years.

To better understand the real functioning of this recurring financial operation, its key characteristics should be summarized as follows :

The nominal unlocked volume : 1 billion XRP released on September 1st from the initial escrow contracts of 55 billion dating from 2017 ; The re-escrow locking : 600 million to 800 million XRP immediately locked again in new forward contracts ; The real net injection : 200 million to 400 million XRP effectively put into circulation, equivalent to a net value of 200 to 400 million dollars ; Allocation of funds : financing On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) services, institutional partnerships, and ecosystem development ; Liquidity context : a net contribution absorbed by a daily XRP trading volume greater than 1 billion dollars on crypto exchanges. The Technical Fragility of XRP Facing Support Tests The real concern of analysts lies not so much in the schedule but in the delicate technical configuration in which Ripple’s crypto finds itself at the time of this release. The token slips below its major $1 support, trading at $0.99 with a 0.3% decline over the last 24 hours and a cumulative drop of more than 1% on the weekly scale.

This passage below the psychological dollar mark is accompanied by concerning weakness signals from a trend-following perspective. The crypto’s price now moves below its simple 50-day moving average, set at $1.07, confirming short-term dominance of bearish pressure. Moreover, the gap separating it from its 200-day simple moving average, located at $1.28, highlights the deterioration of the underlying longer-term momentum.

From a momentum indicator standpoint, the 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at 37.83. Although the crypto remains formally in the neutral zone, this level dangerously flirts with the critical threshold of 30, marking the oversold boundary. This configuration indicates persistent selling pressure, though not yet extreme. If the slide continues, the asset risks sinking further into an oversold zone, while a rebound of the RSI above 50 would be necessary to hope for a return of bullish momentum.

Future Challenges for the Crypto’s Trajectory Between Ripple’s accounting management and the graphic realities of its token, the challenge for the next two weeks promises to be decisive for investor confidence. Although experience shows that the absorption of the net supply of 200 to 400 million XRP usually occurs without major shocks thanks to large trading volumes, the current fragility of technical support could increase investor nervousness.

The market thus faces a complex trade-off between the theoretical neutrality of a programmed mechanism and the psychology of actors reluctant to accumulate an asset below its main moving averages. In this context, where short- and medium-term trends remain bearish, buyers’ ability to defend the $0.99 zone and quickly push the XRP price back towards the 50 SMA at $1.07 will be decisive. Failure to regain these key levels could anchor the token in a prolonged stagnation phase, turning calendar regularity into an additional catalyst of uncertainty.

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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.

XRP continues to face bearish pressure, with recent analyst commentary highlighting a potential accumulation zone as the cryptocurrency looks for direction. Institutional activity, particularly from Strive Financial Group, is bringing additional attention to XRP-linked exchange-traded funds, which could have lasting effects on the asset’s adoption narrative.

XRP price outlook and analyst predictionsAt press time, XRP is trading at $0.99. The 24-hour trading volume has reached $855 million, while the market capitalization stands at $62.68 billion. Despite signs of price stability in the last day, both XRP’s technical structure and the expansion of related ETFs could support a stronger move in the future.

Crypto analyst Crypto Patel has highlighted that the recent decline in XRP price serves as a warning echoed during the 2025 rally, when he cautioned investors as bullish momentum weakened above $3.

Following this warning, XRP experienced a steep correction, losing approximately 73% from its cycle peak and falling below $1 for the first time in nearly two years. The move below this psychological threshold has raised concerns about the underlying market structure.

Crypto Patel has identified the $0.85 to $0.65 range as a strategic accumulation point. He stated that a reversal is unlikely before another 20% to 40% decline in price, suggesting patience for long-term accumulation targets. Crypto Patel favors gradual accumulation near higher time frame demand zones instead of attempting to call the exact market bottom. His price targets remain $3, $5, $7, and $10 in future major rallies.

XRP’s drop of nearly 73% from its cycle top has brought the price below $1 for the first time in almost two years, creating substantial challenges for its market structure. The $0.85–$0.65 region could offer a meaningful accumulation opportunity, although a significant rebound may require a further pullback.

Institutional exposure to XRP ETFsData provided by BankXRP reveals that Strive Financial Group has publicly disclosed its exposure to XRP-based ETFs in an updated 13F regulatory filing. The filing lists investments in the Teucrium 2x Long Daily XRP ETF as well as the XRP ETF offered by Canary.

Strive Financial Group is a US-based asset management firm known for its engagement with alternative investment vehicles and emerging financial products.

This increased activity from Strive highlights the broader trend of institutions gaining exposure to regulated XRP products. While the 13F filing confirms holdings during the reporting period, it does not guarantee current positions or indicate a bullish stance. However, such disclosures do reflect growing interest in regulated digital asset instruments.

Industry commentators note that the presence of institutional players like Strive may help support long-term adoption, even if immediate market impact remains uncertain.

Mini dictionary: 13F filing, a quarterly report required by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for certain institutional investment managers, disclosing their equity holdings.

As investors monitor these developments, the next significant price move for XRP will likely hinge on buyers’ ability to maintain key support levels. If selling pressure dominates, XRP could see further losses. On the other hand, a reversal and subsequent breakout may set the stage for a move toward previously mentioned price targets.

Price LevelAnalyst PerspectiveMarket Cap24h Volume$0.99Current price, neutral zone$62.68 billion$855 million$0.85–$0.65Identified accumulation range––$3 / $5 / $7 / $10Long-term price targets––Market conditions and future outlookDespite optimism from institutional moves and ETF developments, XRP remains within a neutral trading range. While the broader cryptocurrency market has shown signs of improvement, analysts expect that only a firm shift in trend or a successful defense of critical support levels can prompt a sustainable rally in XRP.

Should buyer interest intensify at current levels, the cryptocurrency could consolidate and attempt higher moves. Otherwise, a lack of support could result in additional downward momentum, keeping the asset in a cautious stance.

Broader institutional interest in XRP-linked ETFs may lay the groundwork for future adoption, but a decisive turnaround in price action is necessary before a sustained rally can be expected.

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 traded slightly below $1 on Tuesday, Aug. 18, as rising whale transactions and derivatives activity failed to produce a sustained price recovery.

Summary

XRP traded near $0.996 Tuesday, losing 0.4% daily and 1.2% over seven days overall recently. Price remained below $1, leaving the former support level as immediate resistance for recovering buyers. Large XRP Ledger transactions above $1 million reportedly increased 280%, but transfer direction remains unclear. Binance open interest increased while spot price weakened, raising liquidation risks without confirming market direction. The tx bridge remains halted after attackers stole 198,715.88 XRP through faulty deposit verification software. The token changed hands near $0.996, down 0.4% over 24 hours and 1.2% over seven days, according to market data. XRP’s market capitalization stood near $62.4 billion, ranking it sixth among cryptocurrencies.

XRP traded between approximately $0.989 and $1.01 during the latest 24 hour period. It remained 9.1% lower over 30 days and about 66.7% below its level one year earlier.

The token briefly recovered above $1 on Monday after opening near $0.994. However, buyers failed to maintain the rebound, returning the price below the psychological threshold on Tuesday.

XRP price remains fragile below $1 The XRP/USDT daily chart shows a broader downtrend from the July 2025 high of $3.65. The decline has produced lower highs and pushed XRP into a narrow consolidation range around $1.

The $1 level has acted as support for much of the decline. Trading below it changes the immediate structure because recovering buyers must now reclaim the same level before challenging higher resistance.

An initial recovery would need to clear $1 to $1.05. Above that area, liquidity may sit between $1.16 and $1.18, although reaching those levels would require stronger volume and momentum.

Immediate support sits around $0.988, matching Tuesday’s intraday low. A daily close below that level would expose $0.95, followed by the wider area between $0.85 and $0.90.

The price recently steadied near $1 while large transfers to Binance declined. That reduction in exchange inflows did not produce a confirmed reversal.

Whale transactions rise without confirming accumulation Crypto analyst Ali Martinez reported that XRP Ledger transactions worth more than $1 million increased 280% within 24 hours. The total reportedly rose above 38 large transactions.

Martinez described the activity as evidence that “whales are back.” However, transaction counts alone do not establish whether large holders are buying, selling or moving tokens between wallets.

Large transactions can include exchange deposits, withdrawals, internal transfers and custody reorganizations. Identifying accumulation requires destination analysis, balance changes and exchange flow data.

The price remained below $1 during the transaction increase. That lack of an immediate price response weakens any claim that the activity was entirely driven by buying.

Separate CryptoQuant data showed that whale transfers to Binance had fallen to their lowest level since 2021. The three month average reportedly declined to approximately $61 million.

Lower exchange inflows can reduce potential selling pressure, but they do not guarantee demand. Tokens may also move through exchanges or addresses not covered by the dataset.

Exchange withdrawals and leverage send mixed signals CryptoQuant contributor Amr Taha reported that Coinbase’s seven day net wallet count fell to minus 14,300 on Aug. 17. Binance and Crypto.com also recorded more withdrawing wallets than depositing wallets.

The figures measure wallet counts rather than the amount of XRP withdrawn. One large deposit can outweigh many small withdrawals, making the indicator unsuitable as a direct measure of net token flows.

Coinbase reportedly represented 47.3% of the absolute wallet imbalance across the exchanges tracked by the analyst. That share shows where the activity was concentrated but does not reveal whether the withdrawn tokens entered self custody or another trading venue.

XRP derivatives activity also increased. CryptoQuant analysis showed Binance open interest rising about 28.6% between Aug. 3 and Aug. 17.

Open interest measures outstanding derivatives positions and does not distinguish longs from shorts. Rising leverage while the spot price remains weak can increase the size of liquidations when the market eventually breaks from its range.

In related coverage, derivatives positioning rebuilt while aggressive selling remained dominant. Funding rates, cumulative volume delta and long to short ratios remain necessary for assessing directional positioning.

Technical indicators remain bearish The Awesome Oscillator stood near minus 0.0630 on the daily chart. The negative reading shows bearish momentum remains active, although it is less extreme than during previous stages of the selloff.

The bull and bear power indicator was also negative at approximately minus 0.0377. This points to limited buying pressure and supports the current bearish consolidation structure.

XRP price chart, source: crypto.news Neither indicator confirms that XRP has reached a bottom. Momentum could improve if the price reclaims $1 and the oscillator moves toward positive territory.

Claims of targets between $15 and $17 would require gains exceeding 1,400% from the current price. Such forecasts remain speculative and are not supported by the present daily momentum readings.

The same applies to forecasts calling for a decline into the $0.65 to $0.85 range. Those levels are possible technical scenarios rather than confirmed destinations.

Bridge remains halted following verification exploit The tx project said attackers stole 198,715.88 XRP from its bridge reserve on Aug. 9. The bridge connected the tx blockchain with the XRP Ledger.

According to the project’s update, its software accepted transactions that had not delivered XRP to the correct bridge address. Relayers then approved unbacked balances that attackers redeemed for genuine XRP.

The vulnerability affected the bridge’s verification logic, not the XRP Ledger itself. The bridge remains halted while the team reviews remedies and security changes.

As crypto.news reported, the stolen XRP was converted and routed through privacy infrastructure, complicating recovery efforts. The project also filed a complaint with the FBI.

Separately, a South Korean regional bank adopted Ripple’s payments service on Aug. 18. The announcement did not say XRP would be used for those transfers, so the agreement should not be treated as direct demand for the token.

XRP must reclaim $1 on a daily closing basis to reduce immediate downside pressure. A break above $1.05 would improve the short term setup, while another rejection could return attention to $0.95 and $0.90.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

Bank of America (BofA) has expanded its exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Wall Street giant also trimmed its holdings in Strategy (MSTR), American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC), and other crypto stocks.

Bank of America Holds Almost $94 Million in Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP ETFs The Wall Street giant, with a $1.55 trillion investment portfolio, has increased its investments in multiple crypto ETFs in Q2 2026, according to a 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Bank of America holds $94 million in net exposure in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP ETFs.

Bank of America raised its holdings in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) by 77% in the quarter. It now holds over 1.72 million IBIT shares, up from 972,590 shares earlier.

It also has investments of more than $10 million in Bitwise’s BITB, $2.24 million in Grayscale Bitcoin Mini ETF, and $1.32 million in FBTC. The bank also holds exposure to GBTC, VanEck’s HODL, and Direxion Daily Bitcoin Bull 2X ETF (BTCU).

Moreover, Bank of America (BofA) has also expanded its BlackRock Ethereum ETF (ETHA) exposure by 2,838%. It now holds 1.98 million shares in ETHA, up from 67,492 shares.

In addition, Bank of America increased its XRP ETF holdings slightly in Q2, after keeping exposure the same as in the last quarter. The Wall Street giant holds 13,260 shares of the Volatility Shares XRP ETF (XRPI).

In contrast, the bank has sold the remaining 10,296 shares of Volatility Shares Solana ETF from its investment portfolio. It has fully exited Solana ETFs after selling 700 Volatility Shares 2x Solana ETF shares last quarter.

These holdings align with broader trends as many institutions build positions in spot crypto products. Notably, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley revealed XRP holdings via ETFs amid tradFi’s push into tokenization, treasury management, and real-time payments.

Bank Trims Strategy (MSTR) Stock Exposure Bank of America (BofA) also revealed 1.17 million MSTR stock holdings worth almost $102 million, down 70% from 3.96 million stocks. BofA trimmed MSTR exposure as the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury started selling BTC holdings to pay dividends and build cash reserves.

The Wall Street giant also sold 3,800 Strike (STRK) perpetual preferred shares. The bank even adjusted positions in Strategy convertible senior notes.

The bank sold all 85,508 shares in Trump family’s American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC), while increasing Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) stock holdings by 78% to almost $22 million. It also increased stock holdings in Hyperliquid Strategies Inc (PURR) by 167% to 635,407 shares.

Bank of America has also invested in Circle, Coinbase, and Bitcoin mining crypto companies including MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, and CleanSpark shares.

For retail investors looking to follow Wall Street’s lead safely, utilizing fully compliant US crypto exchanges like Coinbase ensures adherence to rigorous security and domestic regulatory frameworks.

Binance has launched an $800,000 XRP reward campaign for eligible RLUSD holders, creating another incentive to use Ripple’s stablecoin on the exchange. At the same time, XRP Ledger activity has picked up, with Santiment recording its highest daily active-address count in more than two months.

How the RLUSD XRP Rewards WorkBinance’s campaign ran from July 17 through August 14, with XRP rewards distributed every Friday. Users needed to maintain at least 0.01 RLUSD in eligible Binance Earn or Margin accounts and record at least $500 in average daily Margin or Futures trading volume.

RLUSD held in Flexible Savings, or used as collateral in Cross Margin, Isolated Margin or Portfolio Margin accounts, could qualify. Users also had to complete KYC and live in an eligible jurisdiction.

The reward calculation used the lowest RLUSD balance recorded through hourly snapshots each day. Binance then applied the weekly effective APR to the seven-day average qualifying balance.

XRP Rewards Fell as the Campaign ProgressedThe headline reward pool was $800,000 worth of XRP, divided across four weekly distributions. The effective APR changed considerably during the campaign:

July 24: 22.25%July 31: 8.22%August 7: 8.08%August 14: 7.69%This decline shows why the headline APR should not be treated as a fixed return. Binance states that the rate can change each week depending on qualifying balances and other campaign factors.

RLUSD obtained through borrowing also faced restrictions. Binance applied a 60% haircut to the leveraged portion, while borrowed RLUSD recorded as a liability did not count toward the qualifying balance.

XRP Ledger Activity Sends a Different SignalWhile XRP sentiment has weakened, blockchain activity has moved in the opposite direction. Santiment reported 49,929 active XRP addresses within 24 hours, the highest level in more than two months.

😠 XRP negativity surged throughout this week as prices have failed to rally (so far). Crowd commentary is now at a 3-month bearish extreme across X, Reddit, Telegram, and other crypto channels.

⚡ The XRP Ledger, on the other hand, is not so quiet. $XRP just saw 49,929 active… pic.twitter.com/CmXxOHSYt0

— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) August 14, 2026 The increase comes after XRP market value fell below $1, with retail commentary reaching a three-month bearish extreme across social platforms, according to Santiment.

This creates an interesting contrast, while market sentiment is weak, participation on the XRP Ledger is rising.

Story Ends Here

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XRP’s price has been under pressure after a recent correction brought it down to a multi-year low of $0.98. Despite this, the derivatives market for XRP on Binance has displayed a notable increase in trading activity.

Latest analytics from CryptoQuant, a leading blockchain data provider, indicated that open interest (OI) in XRP futures on Binance rose sharply in August. Figures show that OI reached $232.7 million on August 17, up from $181 million on August 3. This 28.6% increase pushed XRP’s futures OI to its highest point since June 2026.

Rising open interest generally indicates an influx of new capital and positions in the market. However, the report highlighted that this heightened activity emerged during a period marked by increased volatility and continued price declines for XRP.

An analyst from CryptoQuant observed that the majority of the surge stemmed from intensified bearish positions by traders, rather than fresh bullish momentum. This interpretation is based on several on-chain indicators tracked during the same period.

Market data points to continued sellingThe analytics further tracked XRP’s seven-day open interest trend. Open interest shifted from a decrease of $40 million on July 29 to a gain of $38.9 million by August 17. This swing, according to the report, demonstrates that many traders opened new positions in August, with both bullish and bearish strategies in play.

While open interest rose, Binance’s Perpetual Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD)—which summarizes net buying and selling activity—showed persistent selling pressure, falling to -$463.2 million. This metric provided clearer insight into market sentiment, revealing that aggressive sell-side orders have outweighed buying even as OI climbed.

The combination of a jump in open interest and falling CVD presents mixed signals for XRP. The rising OI might typically suggest renewed interest, yet the dominance of bearish bets paints a less optimistic picture for the short term.

CryptoQuant is a South Korea-based blockchain analytics provider offering real-time data on flow, activity, and sentiment across major cryptocurrencies and exchanges.

Mini dictionary: Open Interest (OI), the total value of outstanding futures or options contracts that have not been settled. Higher OI reflects increased participation and can indicate market sentiment.

XRP open interest on Binance soared from $181 million to $232.7 million between August 3 and August 17, as bearish positions dominated trade and sell-side pressure continued to build.

DateXRP Open Interest (Binance)Cumulative Volume Delta (Binance Perpetual)July 29~$181 million–August 3$181 million–August 17$232.7 million-$463.2 millionDespite hopes for a price recovery, most new trades in $XRP derivatives on Binance have focused on selling, signaling ongoing caution among market participants.

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.

An unnamed XRP Ledger startup being developed by former Ripple staffer Bias Goose will use RLUSD as a primary financial rail, according to a series of public posts published since Aug. 8. 

Summary

RLUSD will underpin the unnamed XRP Ledger startup, according to former Ripple staffer Bias Goose. Bias Goose says the project will avoid issuing its own token or using artificial incentives. Bias Goose first teased the unnamed XRP Ledger startup on August 8, targeting roughly September. Ripple reported nearly $1.6 billion of RLUSD circulating on August 6 against larger reserve assets. Project claims of yields above Treasury rates remain unverified until economic details and partners emerge. His latest Aug. 16 post said, “We will make RLUSD great again,” but disclosed no project name, partners or detailed product structure. Bias Goose previously worked in developer growth at Ripple and now works in marketing at Walrus Protocol.

The public disclosures remain narrower than some descriptions of the project suggest. Bias Goose has said the startup involves companies from a sector that has traditionally been resistant to blockchain and intends to generate “real yield” without its own token or artificial incentives. Those economic claims cannot yet be independently tested because the underlying businesses and revenue model remain undisclosed.

RLUSD is confirmed, but the startup remains unnamed Bias Goose first said on Aug. 8 that the XRP Ledger would get a new startup “in just about a month.” That points broadly to September rather than establishing a firm launch date. No exact date was included in that announcement.

We will make RLUSD great again

— Bias Goose 🇺🇸 (@BiasGoose) August 16, 2026 Two days later, he said the team had formed partnerships with a “rather closed off sector” and planned to bring participants from that industry onchain. He also said the model would use RLUSD rails, involve XRP later and feature “no incentives, no tokens.” These remain statements from the project’s creator rather than independently confirmed partner announcements.

Yield claims remain the biggest unanswered question The commercial pitch centers on returns generated by real-world activity rather than token emissions. Reports have attributed expectations of returns above U.S. Treasury yields to the project, but no underlying assets, borrowers, contractual cash flows or audited performance figures have been released. Those return claims should therefore be treated as forward-looking and unverified.

RLUSD itself does not automatically produce those returns. Ripple describes the stablecoin as a dollar-backed asset designed for payments, settlements, treasury management and onchain finance. Any yield offered through the startup would need to originate from another asset, strategy or commercial activity layered around RLUSD.

RLUSD already has a growing institutional footprint Ripple’s latest transparency report showed $1.5896 billion of RLUSD circulating against $1.7026 billion in reserve funds as of Aug. 6. Standard Custody & Trust Company, the issuer, is supervised by the New York Department of Financial Services, while Ripple publishes monthly third-party attestations covering supply and reserves.

RLUSD has also expanded internationally. Ripple and SBI launched the stablecoin in Japan in June following regulatory approval there. As crypto.news previously reported, RLUSD trading had driven more than $2.5 billion through XRP Ledger pairs by late June, giving new XRPL applications a deeper dollar-liquidity base than existed when RLUSD launched.

What happens next The next verifiable milestone is a fuller project reveal. Bias Goose’s Aug. 8 timeline points to roughly early September, but no firm launch date has been announced. Claims about counterparties, expected returns, legal structure or a possible Walrus integration remain unconfirmed until the project or its partners publish supporting details.

There is also no announced project token. Bias Goose has explicitly said the model will use “no incentives, no tokens” while operating on RLUSD rails. If that remains the structure, the main questions will be how RLUSD enters the system, what activity produces the proposed returns, how risks are managed and whether XRP gains a role beyond serving as the XRP Ledger’s native asset.

Jane Street Group, a leading global trading firm based in the United States, revealed significant exposure to multiple XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) products in its second quarter 2026 13F filing, including more than 1.2 million shares of the Bitwise XRP ETF valued at $14.05 million. The document, widely circulated among cryptocurrency analysts, also lists call positions and smaller spot entries.

Jane Street expands XRP ETF activityThe 13F filing details Jane Street’s positions across several major XRP ETF issuers, including Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Canary, and 21Shares. Three separate entries for the Bitwise XRP ETF are shown: the largest, with 1,205,000 shares held outright, another as a call option with 15,100 shares, and a third with 67 shares.

Jane Street also disclosed smaller but noteworthy positions in the Franklin, Grayscale, Canary, and 21Shares XRP ETFs. The firm’s involvement in a range of products reflects an operational engagement that reaches beyond standard portfolio investment.

Jane Street’s presence across the XRP ETF ecosystem, spanning five separate issuers, points to a substantial market-making role rather than a typical institutional allocation.

Crypto commentator BankXRP highlighted Jane Street’s broad activity, saying its engagement with multiple XRP ETF issuers indicates a structural commitment to providing liquidity in this developing spot ETF market.

Mini dictionary: Jane Street Group is a global quantitative trading firm known for its active role as a market maker across equities, fixed income, and now digital assets. As a market maker, Jane Street provides liquidity by consistently buying and selling assets, helping to ensure smoother price discovery and tighter spreads on trading platforms.

Institutional XRP ETF disclosures surge in 2026The second quarter of 2026 has seen a rising trend of institutional disclosures involving spot XRP ETF products. Other financial institutions, including Wells Fargo and Bank of Montreal, recently revealed significant XRP ETF holdings in their regulatory filings. For example, Wells Fargo reported a $9.18 million investment in Bitwise XRP ETF across two accounts, while Bank of Montreal made a similar disclosure days earlier.

Asset management firms have also joined the trend. Militia Capital Management disclosed ownership of 31,820 shares in the Bitwise XRP ETF in an amended filing, and Gallacher Capital Management reported 86,744 shares of the Canary XRP ETF valued at $961,126. Jane Street’s report stands out due to the scale and range of its investments across different ETF issuers.

InstitutionMain XRP ETF PositionsTotal Value (approx.)Jane Street Group1,205,000 Bitwise shares (plus calls); Franklin, Grayscale, Canary, 21Shares ETF positions$14.05 million (Bitwise only)Wells FargoBitwise XRP ETF (2 positions)$9.18 millionBank of MontrealBitwise XRP ETFN/AMilitia Capital Management31,820 Bitwise sharesN/AGallacher Capital Management86,744 Canary shares$961,126Growing institutional participation in spot XRP ETFsActivity around spot XRP ETFs has intensified throughout 2026, as more institutional players file regular 13F disclosures. Jane Street’s wide-ranging positions across all major issuers reinforce its role in building liquidity for the broader XRP ETF ecosystem.

Each new market participant deepens the order book and enhances investor access, especially as inflows climb and ETF volume expands. The scale of Jane Street’s holdings this quarter makes it one of the largest and most diversified institutional participants in the emerging spot XRP ETF market.

Jane Street’s cross-product disclosure in Q2 2026, with more than 1.2 million Bitwise XRP ETF shares and holdings in Franklin, Grayscale, Canary, and 21Shares, represents one of the most extensive institutional XRP ETF filings to date.

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 currently trading near its lowest level since November 2024, even as on-chain activity and institutional interest have increased. Recent comments from prominent analysts in Japan and Europe point to renewed discussions about a potential repricing of this cryptocurrency.

Japanese analyst highlights XRP’s unique roleYasuo Matsuda, Senior Analyst at Rakuten Wallet, has offered a positive outlook on XRP, describing it as “uniquely exceptional” within the digital asset landscape. Rakuten Wallet is a widely recognized financial platform in Japan known for its active support of regulated cryptocurrency trading.

Matsuda cited XRP’s design, emphasizing that it was originally developed as a crypto asset for remittance. He stated that this fundamental utility will eventually be reflected in XRP’s market capitalization and price, arguing that a repricing is only a matter of time.

Japan’s long-standing regulatory framework for digital assets has positioned it as a progressive environment for crypto projects to develop. Expert analysis from local financial institutions is often seen as especially influential within the sector.

Yasuo Matsuda, Senior Analyst at Rakuten Wallet, called XRP “uniquely exceptional,” pointing to its original purpose as a remittance asset and suggesting that this value will ultimately be visible in the market capitalization.

European analysts and institutional movesAnalysts outside Japan have voiced similar views. In Germany, a financial expert highlighted XRP’s technical position, calling it “brutally oversold.” The term “oversold” signals a situation where the asset’s market price is below what technical indicators support.

Recent institutional disclosures appear to echo this line of thinking. Ironbridge Private Wealth, a financial services firm, reported holding a combined $10 million position in the Bitwise XRP ETF and Volatility Shares XRP ETF, amounting to about 1.2 million shares in total.

Such positions suggest that some investors anticipate either a recovery or upward movement in XRP’s price in response to fundamental and technical factors.

Mini dictionary: Ironbridge Private Wealth — A financial advisory firm offering investment management services, including positions in digital asset Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

InstitutionETFPosition SizeShares HeldIronbridge Private WealthBitwise XRP ETF, Volatility Shares XRP ETF$10 million1.2 millionRising activity and regulatory developmentsMultiple indicators point to increasing activity on the XRP Ledger. The number of active addresses in August grew about one third compared to July, with August 11 marking the busiest day for activity.

AI agent transactions using the x402 protocol on the XRP ledger have approached 2 million, reflecting growing integration of advanced settlement technologies.

Mini dictionary: x402 protocol — A specification that enables automated payment and data transfer by AI agents directly on the XRP Ledger, facilitating seamless machine-to-machine transactions.

Additionally, Ripple moved 50 million XRP from its company-controlled wallet, an event identified as rare and potentially connected to strategic decisions. Ripple, the company behind the XRP cryptocurrency, seeks to modernize global financial infrastructure through real-time cross-border settlement solutions.

On the policy front, the US SEC is preparing to introduce new rules, potentially allowing crypto projects to raise funds without standard registration requirements. Ripple’s chief business officer, Reece Merrick, noted that the company’s mission includes “rewiring the financial system,” particularly focusing on institutional adoption, real-world asset tokenization, and expansion in regions such as the Middle East.

The combination of rising on-chain activity, significant wallet movements, and regulatory changes fuels expectations for an eventual price adjustment in XRP, even as current market levels remain subdued.

The path forward for XRP pricingThe discussion around repricing centers on the divergence between XRP’s trading price and the broader utility and activity within its network. Analysts and institutional buyers contend that this gap represents potential for upward movement, though the timing of any significant price change remains uncertain. XRP has maintained a prominent position among digital assets for over a decade, but observers continue to watch for market dynamics that could align its price with its underlying developments.

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.

TLDR:

Table of Contents

XRP whale inflows to Binance fell to $61M, the lowest since 2021 and nearly 87% below January 2025 levels.
Bank of America held 13,260 XRPI shares in Q2, up 260 shares, or roughly 2%, from the first quarter.
Binance XRP netflows stayed positive at $18.8M, showing inflows still exceeded outflows despite the slowdown.
XRP Ledger active addresses rose 84% to 43,543 by August 11, while XRP traded near the key $1.06 level.

XRP is showing two contrasting signals as exchange-bound whale activity falls sharply while Bank of America slightly increases exposure through a regulated futures product. The combination highlights weaker large-holder deposits on Binance alongside a measured increase in institutional securities exposure tied to the token.

CryptoQuant contributor Darkfost said Binance’s 90-day average whale inflows fell to about $61 million, the lowest level since 2021. Meanwhile, an August 14 filing showed Bank of America held 13,260 shares of the Volatility Shares XRP ETF at June 30.

Whale Deposits Fall Sharply While XRP Holds Near $1
The current $61 million average marks a steep decline from roughly $456 million in January 2025 and $355 million in October. That places recent inflows about six to seven-and-a-half times below those earlier levels.

The decline also extended a trend visible in July, when the 90-day average stood near $69 million. Moving from $69 million to $61 million represents an additional decrease of roughly 12%.

Earlier data also showed large daily deposits collapsing from 583 million XRP to 25.3 million XRP. Separately, the 30-day sum of whale inflows fell 34.4%, from 1.445 billion tokens to 947.4 million.

📉 $XRP whale inflows on Binance drop to their lowest since 2021

There's an interesting development currently taking place regarding Binance's whales on XRP.

💥 Their inflows, averaged here over 3 months to get a clean read on the trend, just hit their lowest level since 2021.… pic.twitter.com/kY2FRFtHVM

— Darkfost (@Darkfost_Coc) August 15, 2026

Exchange inflows are often monitored because large deposits can increase potential sell-side supply. However, deposits do not confirm completed sales, so lower inflows do not establish whale accumulation.

That distinction remains important as Binance netflows were still positive at about $18.8 million, according to Darkfost. Therefore, whale-related deposits continued exceeding withdrawals despite the broader decline in inflow activity.

At the same time, network usage increased. Active XRP Ledger addresses rose from 23,642 on August 1 to 43,543 by August 11, an increase exceeding 84%.

Even so, higher address activity did not provide direct evidence of fresh capital entering the market. At press time, XRP traded near $1.06, keeping the $1 level central to current price structure.

Bank of America Raises XRPI Position by 2% in Q2
Against that market backdrop, Bank of America reported a modest increase in its XRP-linked ETF holding for the second quarter. The filing showed 13,260 shares, compared with 13,000 shares reported during the first quarter.

That increase equals 260 shares, or about 2%. The disclosure therefore reflects an expanded existing position rather than a new entry into the product.

The fund, ticker XRPI, is the Volatility Shares XRP ETF and began trading on Nasdaq in May 2025. It seeks returns generally corresponding to the token’s performance.

However, XRPI is futures-based and does not hold the cryptocurrency directly. Bank of America’s position therefore represents indirect exposure through a regulated security.

Together, the two developments present a factual contrast. Whale inflows to Binance are at their weakest level since 2021, while Bank of America modestly increased its ETF position.

Neither signal establishes a broader trend by itself. However, the data shows exchange-side selling pressure easing while regulated institutional exposure increased slightly during the second quarter.

Cover image via U.Today

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.

Solana (SOL) is now available on the XRP Ledger DEX, Hussein Zangana (Vet), XRP Ledger Foundation director of community, revealed in a recent post. Wrapped and issued by Axelar, this move connects Solana and the XRP Ledger.

As the XRP DEX is native, users will be able to access Solana on XRP Ledger-based platforms. They can swap SOL on the XRPL DEX through the XPMarket, First Ledger, and Magnetic platforms. They can also access SOL directly within Xaman Wallet through the Swap widget.

The move follows a trend that has increased since 2025 and continues in 2026, opening up new paths for several assets to move across chains, with XRP having gone live on Solana earlier.

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Wrapped XRP (wXRP), issued by Hex Trust, went live on Solana in April, making the token available for the first time through Solana's DeFi apps (Jupiter, Phantom, Titan Exchange, and Meteora). wXRP, which is tradable with RLUSD, can be used on supported blockchains, including Solana, Optimism, Ethereum, and HyperEVM.

Warning issuedWith a new interoperability milestone unlocked with Solana now available on the XRPL DEX, Vet issued a crucial warning to the XRP community. He noted that currently Axelar is the only legitimate issuer of Wrapped SOL, urging XRPL users to beware of fake tokens.

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Vet added that platforms that support Wrapped SOL on the XRPL, including XPMarket, First Ledger, Magnetic, and Xaman Wallet, have given the token a checkmark to make it easier to identify. He shared a screenshot from XRPScan to explain what he meant.

As seen in the screenshot, the account name or the issuer is listed as Axelar Bridge with a checkmark. This will enable users to differentiate the original issuer from fake ones, which are those without a checkmark.

However, users should not rely only on the token name or the ticker. They should verify the issuer address and cross-check with reliable sources before trading.

A $550,000 community audit contest uncovered two critical vulnerabilities in XRP Ledger features that could have drained user accounts without private keys. The findings reveal how Ripple’s audit-before-release model diverges sharply from the broader crypto industry’s patch-after-exploit norm.

Summary

Sherlock’s two-week audit contest, which opened on April 13, 2026, uncovered 96 valid vulnerabilities across five proposed XRP Ledger amendments, including 2 critical and 6 high-severity bugs, before any of them reached mainnet. Ripple paid $309,000 in RLUSD bounties from a $550,000 prize pool, marking the first collaboration between Sherlock and Ripple and one of the largest audit contests of 2026. The most severe finding was a signature-validation flaw in the Batch amendment that would have allowed attackers to execute transactions from any account without holding its private keys, first identified on February 19, 2026, by researcher Pranamya Keshkamat and Cantina’s AI tool Apex. A separate critical bug in Permission Delegation allowed malicious actors to silently drain XRP balances through repeated fee charges on invalid delegated transactions, because the code checked permissions before verifying signatures. DeFi exploits exceeded $840 million across more than 50 incidents in the first five months of 2026 alone, a 70% year-over-year increase, and 70% of exploited contracts had been audited but lacked post-deployment monitoring. XRP Ledger version 3.3.0 shipped on August 6, 2026, carrying five proposed amendments and a bundled cleanup patch. On paper it looked like a routine infrastructure release. Underneath, the update represented the conclusion of a six-month security gauntlet that caught two account-draining bugs, rewrote two entire feature implementations from scratch, and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to outside researchers who found problems the internal team had missed. The process raises a pointed question for the wider blockchain industry: if Ripple can catch critical flaws before deployment, why does so much of crypto still treat security audits as a post-launch checkbox?

This piece breaks down what the two critical vulnerabilities actually were at a technical level, examines how the audit-vote-activate pipeline compares to competing chains’ security models, and assesses whether the findings strengthen or undermine the case for XRPL as institutional-grade infrastructure.

What the Sherlock contest actually found The scope covered five pillars of upcoming XRPL functionality: Batch Transactions, Permission Delegation, Multi-Purpose Token (MPT) DEX integration, Confidential Transfers for MPTs, and Sponsored Fees and Reserves. Sherlock, a Web3 security firm that ranks researchers by performance and structures engagements as adversarial contests, opened the audit on April 13, 2026, with a $550,000 RLUSD prize pool. The contest page on Sherlock’s platform listed the engagement as “XRP Ledger – April 2026 Contest – 550,000 RLUSD,” signaling that Ripple paid the bounties in its own stablecoin.

Over two weeks, participants submitted reports that surfaced 96 valid findings: 2 critical, 6 high, 29 medium, and 59 low-severity issues. Ripple distributed $309,000 in RLUSD to contributors. The remaining pool covered Sherlock’s operational costs and lower-tier findings that did not meet the payout threshold.

The contest marked the first formal collaboration between Sherlock and Ripple, and it arrived at a moment when the XRP Ledger’s feature pipeline was expanding faster than at any point in its history. Five amendments shipping simultaneously meant five distinct attack surfaces, each with its own transaction logic, authorization model, and cryptographic requirements. For context, Sherlock’s audit contest model has previously been used by protocols including Aave, Euler, and Olympus DAO, but an engagement covering C++ protocol-level code for a layer-one blockchain was atypical for a platform more commonly associated with Solidity smart contracts.

The severity distribution itself tells a story. The 29 medium-severity findings suggest a category of bugs that would not individually compromise accounts but could create unexpected behavior under specific transaction sequences. The 59 low-severity issues likely include code quality concerns, documentation gaps, and edge cases that could compound under adversarial conditions. The two critical and six high-severity bugs, however, represented exploitable vulnerabilities that warranted immediate remediation.

The Batch amendment bug that could have emptied accounts The most dangerous vulnerability predated the Sherlock contest by two months. On February 19, 2026, security researcher Pranamya Keshkamat and Cantina’s autonomous AI audit tool Apex independently identified a signature-validation flaw in the original Batch amendment while it was still in its validator voting phase.

The technical failure was precise. Batch Transactions allow up to eight operations to execute atomically under a single outer transaction. The outer transaction’s signature-validation code contained an early-exit condition that could be satisfied without properly verifying who was authorizing the inner transactions. In practice, an attacker could have constructed a Batch transaction containing inner Payment operations targeting a victim account, draining it down to its reserve balance, without ever holding that account’s private keys. The same logic gap would have permitted unauthorized AccountSet, TrustSet, or AccountDelete operations.

The vulnerability disclosure report published on xrpl.org detailed the mechanics: the signer check in the outer transaction could pass without confirming that the entity submitting the batch actually controlled the accounts referenced in the inner transactions. This meant that the atomicity feature designed to improve user experience could have been weaponized to empty any account on the network in a single transaction.

RippleX responded with an emergency release. Rippled version 3.1.1, published on February 23, 2026, four days after discovery, marked both the original Batch amendment and its companion fixBatchInnerSigs as unsupported, preventing validators from voting on or activating them. No funds were lost because the amendment had not yet cleared the 80% validator threshold required for activation. The replacement, BatchV1_1, shipped in version 3.3.0 with the early-exit condition removed, additional authorization guards added, and the signing check scope tightened to verify each inner transaction against the correct signer independently.

Permission Delegation’s silent fee-drain exploit The second critical vulnerability operated through a subtler mechanism. A September 2025 disclosure documented how the original Permission Delegation implementation allowed an attacker to silently bleed a victim account’s XRP balance without accessing its keys.

The exploit relied on a design feature of the XRP Ledger’s transaction processing that has existed since the network’s earliest days. On XRPL, a transaction that fails with a “tec”-class error still incurs a fee charge, while errors caught earlier in the pipeline, before signature verification, do not. This distinction exists because tec-class failures indicate transactions that were properly formed and signed but failed for business-logic reasons, and the fee prevents spam. Permission Delegation’s original code checked whether a delegate account held the relevant permission before it verified the transaction’s signature. An attacker could repeatedly submit invalid offline-signed transactions with elevated fees against a delegated account, and each failed transaction would still deduct the fee from the victim’s balance.

The economic impact would have compounded quickly. Because the attacker could set arbitrarily high fees on these transactions, a sustained attack could drain an account far faster than normal transaction fees would suggest. The victim would see their balance declining with no corresponding outbound payments, making the attack difficult to diagnose without examining raw transaction metadata.

The fix reclassified the relevant error from tec to ter and reordered the checks so that no fee can be deducted before signature verification passes. The replacement amendment, PermissionDelegationV1_1, carries a default “No” designation in the 3.3.0 registry, meaning validators must actively vote to enable it. This conservative default reflects the sensitivity of the original flaw: even after the rewrite, Ripple chose to require explicit validator opt-in for the feature.

BREAKING: XRP Ledger sustains over 140 TPS and blocks with up to 987 transactions during today’s big activity wave, maintaining cent-level fees and 3-4 second settlement pic.twitter.com/yaAyCH4wGy

— crypto.news (@cryptodotnews) April 10, 2026 Why both rewrites shipped in a single release Packaging two security-rewritten amendments alongside three entirely new features in one version was a deliberate choice. RippleX published xrpld 3.3.0 on August 6, 2026, with the code for all six proposals (including a bundled cleanup amendment called fixCleanup3_3_0) present but none of them activated. Under the XRP Ledger’s amendment process, each proposal must sustain more than 80% validator support for two consecutive weeks before going live.

This separation between code availability and feature activation is a structural advantage that most smart-contract platforms lack. On Ethereum, a deployed contract is live the moment it hits the blockchain. On XRPL, code can ship, undergo further review during the voting window, and still be blocked if validators lose confidence. The Batch and Permission Delegation rewrites had already survived the Sherlock contest, a Halborn re-audit that found zero critical or high-risk issues, and months of internal testing. The voting period adds yet another layer of defense before any code touches real funds.

The version also retired five legacy amendments, including Clawback, fixDisallowIncomingV1, fixInnerObjTemplate, fixNFTokenReserve, and fixUniversalNumber, removing dead code paths that could otherwise accumulate as latent attack surface over time.

The five feature amendments in 3.3.0 represent the broadest single expansion of XRPL capabilities to date. Confidential Transfers bring EC-ElGamal encryption and zero-knowledge proofs to Multi-Purpose Tokens, shielding individual balances and transfer amounts from public view while preserving compliance access for authorized parties. Sponsored Fees allow applications to cover network costs on behalf of users, addressing the onboarding friction that has kept consumer-facing applications off decentralized networks. DynamicMPT lets issuers modify token properties after creation, supporting evolving regulatory and business requirements. Together with the Batch and Permission Delegation rewrites, these features target a specific audience: regulated financial institutions that need privacy, atomic settlement, and delegated operations without sacrificing auditability.

Audit before release versus patch after exploit The contrast between Ripple’s approach and the broader industry’s security track record is stark. DeFi exploits exceeded $840 million across more than 50 incidents in the first five months of 2026, a 70% year-over-year increase over the same period in 2025. North Korea-linked actors accounted for 76% of global crypto hack losses in the first four months of the year. And the most damning statistic: 70% of exploited contracts had been audited but lacked any form of post-deployment monitoring. Only 4% of tracked projects combined audits, active bug bounties, and third-party monitoring controls together.

The Ethereum ecosystem, home to the largest concentration of smart-contract value, operates under a fundamentally different security model. Contracts deploy to mainnet through an immutable transaction. If a vulnerability surfaces afterward, the options are limited: deploy a new contract and migrate users, implement a proxy upgrade pattern that introduces its own attack surface, or accept the risk. The Wormhole bridge hack of 2022 cost $320 million because a deprecated verification function remained in production code. Ronin’s August 2024 exploit cost $12 million because a contract upgrade failed to initialize operator weights correctly. In both cases, audits had been performed; the failures happened after deployment.

The KelpDAO hack on April 18, 2026, which drained approximately $293 million, was the largest single DeFi exploit of the year. The Drift Protocol exploit on Solana on April 1, which cost roughly $286 million, was the largest ever recorded on that chain. These figures are not fringe events. They represent the baseline failure rate of an industry that has collectively lost $16.69 billion to hacks, bridge exploits, and security incidents according to DeFiLlama data.

XRPL’s amendment voting process inverts this sequence. Code ships in a release, but features remain dormant until validators approve them. During the voting window, researchers, node operators, and competing auditors can examine the live codebase with full context. If a problem surfaces, validators simply withhold their votes. No emergency patch, no migration, no proxy contract. The February 2026 Batch bug followed exactly this path: the amendment was in its voting phase, the vulnerability was identified, and an emergency release prevented activation. Zero funds at risk, zero user impact.

This is not to say that the XRPL model is flawless. The amendment process works for protocol-level features but does not extend to applications built on top of the ledger. A poorly coded trust line or MPT integration could still lose funds. And the 80% validator threshold creates its own risks: if too few validators upgrade to a new version, legitimate security patches can stall. But for core protocol changes, the audit-vote-activate pipeline represents a materially different security posture than deploy-and-hope.

NEW: Coinbase has enabled Trade at Settlement for $XRP futures on May 1, placing XRP alongside Bitcoin, Ethereum, gold and crude oil for institutional block trading pic.twitter.com/d00uPssPxy

— crypto.news (@cryptodotnews) May 3, 2026 What this means for XRPL’s institutional pitch Ripple has spent 2026 building an institutional infrastructure stack at an aggressive pace. The $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, a multi-asset prime broker rebranded as Ripple Prime, gave the company a regulated on-ramp for traditional finance. RLUSD reached a $1.72 billion market capitalization in under a year and moved more than $18 billion in transaction volume during Q1 alone. Goldman Sachs disclosed a $153.8 million position across four XRP ETFs. Ripple secured a full Electronic Money Institution license from Luxembourg in February, UK Financial Conduct Authority permissions in January, and a MiCA Crypto-Asset Service Provider license on July 6.

The institutional DeFi features arriving in version 3.3.0 are the technical counterpart to this business development push. Confidential Transfers address the privacy requirements of banks that cannot expose transaction details on a public ledger. Sponsored Fees solve the onboarding friction that has kept retail banking applications off decentralized networks. Permission Delegation, once its rewrite clears the voting process, enables the kind of controlled access models that compliance departments require.

But institutional adoption depends on trust, and trust in blockchain infrastructure ultimately comes down to security track record. The fact that Ripple caught two critical bugs, rewrote two entire feature implementations, paid outside researchers $309,000 to find problems, and still delivered all five features on schedule is a stronger institutional selling point than any individual feature. It suggests a security culture where finding bugs is rewarded and where shipping is subordinate to verification.

Over 300 financial institutions across 55 countries currently use RippleNet, with active On-Demand Liquidity corridors in more than 70 markets. For those institutions, the Sherlock audit results are not abstract. They are evidence that the code running their cross-border payments has been stress-tested by adversarial researchers with financial incentives to break it. Ripple’s four-phase quantum-resistance roadmap, targeting completion by 2028, further signals that the company is engineering for institutional time horizons measured in decades, not deployment cycles.

The opposing case: why skeptics are not convinced The strongest argument against reading too much into the Sherlock audit runs in two directions.

First, finding 96 bugs before release can be framed as evidence of thorough testing or evidence of sloppy development. Both the Batch and Permission Delegation vulnerabilities were in the original implementations, meaning they cleared internal review before external researchers caught them. The February 2026 Batch bug was not identified by Ripple’s own team but by an independent researcher and an AI tool. If external auditors are the primary safety net, the internal development process may have quality gaps that will eventually produce a vulnerability that no external reviewer catches in time.

Second, the XRPL amendment model’s strength, the ability to prevent activation during the voting window, is also a speed constraint. Ethereum’s willingness to deploy and iterate has enabled a pace of innovation that XRPL cannot match. The five amendments in version 3.3.0 have been in development and review cycles for months. The original Batch amendment was proposed in 2025. For protocols competing for developer attention in fast-moving markets, a six-month security pipeline may be too slow to attract the builder ecosystem that drives network effects.

There is also a concentration risk in the validator set. The 80% activation threshold means that a relatively small number of validators, many of which are operated by entities with close ties to Ripple, control whether amendments go live. Critics argue this is not truly decentralized governance but a curated approval process dressed in consensus language. When Ripple’s own validator voted “yes” on lending amendments in recent weeks, it underscored how much influence the company retains over its nominally decentralized network.

Finally, the $309,000 payout from a $550,000 pool raises a practical question about incentive alignment. Top-tier security researchers command rates that exceed what contest models typically pay per hour of effort. If the most skilled auditors skip XRPL contests because the expected payout per finding is lower than private engagements, the adversarial review may be broad but not deep enough to catch the most sophisticated attack vectors.

These objections have weight. XRP traded near $1.03 in late July 2026, roughly 71% below its $3.65 cycle high set on July 17, 2025, suggesting the market has not yet priced in the institutional narrative. Whether the security track record translates into adoption depends on factors beyond code quality: regulatory clarity, competitive positioning against Ethereum layer-2 solutions, and whether institutions care more about pre-deployment audits than they do about ecosystem size.

What to watch Validator voting thresholds for the five 3.3.0 amendments: if BatchV1_1 and PermissionDelegationV1_1 clear 80% support within the first voting cycle, it signals validator confidence in the rewrites. A stall would suggest lingering concerns about the rewritten code.

Post-activation bug reports: the real test of the Sherlock audit’s thoroughness comes after features go live. Zero critical findings in the first 90 days would validate the pre-release model; any post-activation vulnerability would undermine the entire thesis.

RLUSD adoption on Confidential Transfers: institutional stablecoin usage on shielded rails would confirm demand for privacy-compliant settlement. Volume metrics in the first quarter after activation will be the clearest signal of whether banks are ready to transact on a public ledger with privacy guarantees.

Sherlock’s next XRPL engagement: whether Ripple continues with adversarial audit contests for future amendments or reverts to traditional private audits will indicate how deeply the pre-release model is embedded in the development culture.

Competing chain security incidents: every major exploit on Ethereum or Solana that traces back to a post-deployment vulnerability strengthens the case for XRPL’s audit-vote-activate pipeline. The comparison is only as strong as the industry’s continued failure to adopt similar processes.

What did the Sherlock audit of XRP Ledger find? The two-week audit contest, which opened on April 13, 2026, uncovered 96 valid vulnerabilities across five proposed XRPL amendments: 2 critical, 6 high, 29 medium, and 59 low-severity issues. Ripple paid $309,000 in RLUSD bounties from a $550,000 prize pool. All findings were addressed before any of the affected features activated on mainnet.

What was the critical Batch amendment bug? The original Batch amendment contained a signature-validation flaw that allowed an attacker to execute inner transactions from any account without holding its private keys. The bug was an early-exit condition in the outer transaction’s signing check that could be satisfied without proper authorization verification. Researcher Pranamya Keshkamat and Cantina’s AI tool Apex identified it on February 19, 2026. RippleX patched it in emergency release version 3.1.1 four days later.

How did the Permission Delegation vulnerability work? The original implementation checked delegate permissions before verifying transaction signatures. On XRPL, transactions that fail with “tec”-class errors still incur fees. An attacker could repeatedly submit invalid transactions with elevated fees against a delegated account, draining its XRP balance without ever holding its keys. The fix reclassified the error type and reordered the verification checks.

Were any funds lost from these vulnerabilities? No funds were lost. Both critical vulnerabilities were identified before their respective amendments activated on mainnet. The Batch bug was caught during the validator voting phase, and the Permission Delegation flaw was disclosed and patched before activation. The XRP Ledger’s amendment process, which requires 80% validator support for two consecutive weeks, provided a structural buffer that prevented exploitation.

What is Sherlock and how does its audit model work? Sherlock is a Web3 security firm that structures audits as adversarial contests, ranking researchers by performance and offering financial incentives through prize pools. The XRP Ledger engagement was Sherlock’s first collaboration with Ripple and one of the largest audit contests of 2026. The model differs from traditional private audits by inviting broad participation from independent security researchers competing for bounties, which surfaces a wider range of attack vectors than a small internal team can cover.

How does XRPL’s security model differ from Ethereum’s? XRPL’s amendment process separates code deployment from feature activation. New features ship in a software release but remain dormant until validators vote to activate them, creating a review window where vulnerabilities can be caught without emergency patches. Ethereum’s smart contracts are live upon deployment, and fixing vulnerabilities requires deploying new contracts, migrating users, or implementing proxy upgrades. In the first five months of 2026, DeFi exploits exceeded $840 million, and 70% of exploited contracts had been audited but lacked post-deployment monitoring.

What features does XRP Ledger version 3.3.0 include? Version 3.3.0, released on August 6, 2026, contains code for five feature amendments and a cleanup patch. The features include Confidential Transfers for Multi-Purpose Tokens using zero-knowledge proofs, rewritten Batch Transactions for atomic multi-operation settlement, rewritten Permission Delegation for controlled account access, Sponsored Fees allowing applications to cover user costs, and DynamicMPT enabling issuers to modify token properties after creation.

Does this audit make XRPL a safe investment? The Sherlock audit reflects a rigorous pre-release security process, but code quality is one factor among many that influence investment outcomes. XRP traded near $1.03 in late July 2026, roughly 71% below its cycle high, and market performance depends on regulatory developments, institutional adoption rates, competitive dynamics, and macroeconomic conditions. This is educational analysis, not investment advice. **Disclaimer**: This article was published on August 14, 2026. It is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, investment, or legal advice. Cryptocurrency markets are volatile and carry substantial risk. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any investment decisions.

Levi Rietveld, a well-known crypto analyst and creator of Crypto Crusaders, focused this week on the ongoing regulatory challenges faced by XRP. Rietveld addressed the current debate over the CLARITY Act and emphasized that recent developments at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are now taking precedence over stalled legislative efforts.

The SEC steps up regulatory effortsRietveld stated that the SEC, alongside the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), already possesses the tools to regulate cryptocurrencies through their existing authority. He pointed out that these agencies can make and enforce rules governing the crypto sector without waiting for new legislation from Congress.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins publicly confirmed this approach, specifying that the agency is “ready, willing and able to come out with rules” with or without congressional action on the CLARITY Act. Commissioner Hester Peirce has similarly stated that the SEC intends to advance frameworks for custody, the trading of tokenized securities, and crypto fundraising regardless of the bill’s outcome.

Rietveld remarked that formal rulemaking and new guidance from regulators are set to advance within days, shifting attention away from the delayed Senate process and toward immediate regulatory measures.

XRP, trading close to $1, has seen increased scrutiny as the debate around the CLARITY Act’s passage intensifies. While Rietveld’s video commentary included warnings about a “collapse,” he also displayed optimism about the asset’s long-term regulatory clarity and its prospects as these changes unfold.

XRP’s legal foundation and future structureRietveld explained that the key development for XRP lies in the ongoing integration of the asset into a clearly regulated financial framework. He highlighted that legal clarity was already achieved to a significant extent through Ripple’s extended litigation with the SEC, which set several precedents for the industry.

Commissioner Peirce confirmed that the SEC’s agenda now features ongoing efforts to define rules for decentralized finance, custody, and the trading of tokenized securities. These areas directly relate to XRP’s core infrastructure, providing a foundation for broader institutional participation if legal certainty is solidified.

As regulatory momentum builds, a major shift is also taking place on Wall Street. Traditional markets, which previously relied on layers of brokers, are rapidly integrating Web3 technologies. Investors are turning to platforms such as 1stepSwap that allow users to hold shares of major U.S. companies, gold, and silver directly in their crypto wallets. By tokenizing real-world assets and automating price discovery, such solutions remove intermediaries and reduce transaction friction for institutional and retail participants alike.

Congressional efforts remain relevantDespite the SEC’s active push for new crypto guidelines, congressional action remains significant. SEC Chair Atkins argued that statutory law offers stronger long-term stability than administrative rules, which agencies can amend or reverse.

A Senate vote on the CLARITY Act is scheduled for September 15. The bill requires at least 7 Democratic votes to pass the 60-vote threshold for cloture. Senator Bernie Moreno has stated that all 53 Republican senators support the measure, and several Democrats are expected to vote in favor.

Atkins believes a law would provide lasting certainty for crypto market participants, offering greater protection against potential policy reversals compared to regulatory guidance alone.

With regulatory agencies already developing comprehensive frameworks, institutional access to assets like XRP is expected to expand whatever the outcome of the Senate vote. These structural shifts mark a transition period, with both regulatory and legislative pathways shaping the market’s future.

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.

Ripple’s XRP hovered near $1.01 on Friday, keeping just above the key $1 mark after recording its most bearish daily close since November 2024. The token remains down about 69% from its January 2025 peak of $3.30, continuing to lag beneath major technical averages.

Major holders boost accumulationDespite the recent downturn, large investors are actively increasing their XRP positions. Blockchain analytics specialist Ali Martinez reported that whales amassed over 72 million XRP within a 24-hour period. Martinez questioned whether these acquisitions suggest that major players may be positioning themselves ahead of an anticipated price recovery.

Ali Martinez observed that major XRP holders accumulated more than 72 million tokens in a single day, raising questions about whether significant investors are preparing for a potential bull rally.

This accumulation trend extends beyond one day. According to Santiment, the number of addresses holding at least 1 million XRP has grown by 32 over the last three months, bringing the total to approximately 2,033. These large wallets acquired over 380 million XRP during the week ending August 9, pushing their total holdings above 8 billion XRP, currently valued at around $8.2 billion.

ETF inflows and shifting investor behaviorInstitutional activity remains favorable even as price action struggles. SoSoValue data shows that spot XRP exchange-traded funds recorded $2.25 million in net inflows by Thursday of the current week. If the week closes in positive territory, this would be XRP’s fifth straight week with net ETF inflows, reflecting persistent institutional appetite.

Investor behavior also indicates greater focus on self-custody. Around 81% of XRP withdrawals from Binance moved to private wallets, hinting that holders are opting to store assets away from exchanges for longer holding periods.

Recent data reveals a rise in blockchain activity as well. The average number of daily active wallets climbed to roughly 35,700 in August, up from 26,400 in July. August 11 marked the highest on-chain activity since early June. The rate of new XRP address creation held steady at about 2,260 per day, suggesting that increased engagement stems mainly from existing participants rather than new entrants.

Key levels and technical outlookWith XRP’s realized price at approximately $0.75—below the spot price near $1.01—the token has yet to retest historically discounted levels seen at previous market cycle lows. Technically, XRP trades under its 50-day EMA at $1.09, 100-day EMA at $1.17, and 200-day EMA at $1.36. The Relative Strength Index stands at 36, below the neutral 50, and the MACD still points to negative momentum.

Analyst Diana identified support at $0.87, with a critical decision area between $0.77 and $0.80. Resistance is expected near $1.06, where roughly 3 billion XRP are positioned at their cost basis.

Cryptocurrency analyst Diana emphasizes that XRP’s next critical move hinges on active support zones around $0.87, with immediate resistance levels concentrated near $1.06 as large volumes gather at these price points.

If current supports persist, Diana’s upside targets range from $1.46 to $3.56–$3.66, approaching the prior all-time high. This outlook underscores the significance of monitoring price action closely, particularly as technical indicators reach pivotal levels.

In an environment where one Federal Reserve decision or a surprise altcoin listing can trigger rapid price swings, traders have become more attentive to real-time data and market alerts. Many investors are turning to privacy-first platforms such as CryptoAppsy, which provide live charting, portfolio monitoring, smart price notifications, coin-specific headlines, and macroeconomic data on a single interface—without requiring registration or account creation.

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.

JPMorgan, with AUM of $5.1 trillion, has revealed its quarter two (Q2) report with the U.S SEC. Its latest SEC filing shows a sharp rise in Bitcoin exposure and a 338% jump in Ethereum ETF holdings.

The bank also returned to XRP through two ETF positions and added a new position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF.

JPMorgan Doubles Down on Bitcoin ETF ExposureAccording to JPMorgan’s Q2 2026 13F filing, the bank held a combined 10.4 million shares of BlackRock’s IBIT, worth about $355.7 million as of June 30. These shares appear across three separate IBIT fund entries in the filing and add up to the reported total. 

That marks a sharp increase from the first quarter, when JPMorgan reported about 8.3 million IBIT shares worth nearly $162 million.

JPMorgan’s options position also shifted during the quarter. IBIT call options increased to 3.94 million, while put options dropped from 4.75 million to about 3.5 million.

The increase comes even as Bitcoin ETF flows have remained unstable. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $131.1 million in net outflows on Aug. 13, following a much larger $61.16 million outflow on Aug. 12.

Ethereum ETF Exposure Jumps 338%JPMorgan’s Q2 filing also showed a much larger position in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA). The bank held nearly 1.17 million ETHA shares worth about $14.3 million, marking a 338% increase from the previous quarter.

The ETHA position shows that JPMorgan has increased its exposure to both Bitcoin and Ethereum through U.S.-listed ETF products.

However, the size of the Bitcoin position remains much larger. JPMorgan’s IBIT holdings are more than 20 times the value of its reported ETHA position.

JPMorgan Added XRP Back Through ETFsThe biggest surprise in the filing may be JPMorgan’s return to XRP.

The bank’s Q1 filing showed that its Bitwise XRP ETF position had fallen from 3,870 shares to zero. The latest filing reverses that move, showing fresh exposure through both the Bitwise XRP ETF and Grayscale XRP Trust ETF.

The Bitwise position was worth about $1,356, while the Grayscale XRP ETF holding was valued at roughly $3,763.

JPMorgan also reported 19,894 shares of Armada Acquisition Corp II, worth approximately $207,295. The company is linked to a Ripple-backed deal and trades under the XRPN ticker.

In addition, JPMorgan initiated a new position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL), holding roughly 47,500 shares.

The next 13F filing, expected in November, will show whether the bank continued adding Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP exposure during Q3 or reduced its positions.

Story Ends Here

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XRP Ledger has added 32 new millionaire addresses in the past three months, according to data from blockchain analytics firm Santiment, defying the prevailing negative sentiment in the wider market.

XRP price and network activityDespite a 29% decline in XRP’s price during the same period, the number of high-value holders continues to climb. Santiment also indicated that XRP’s price recently hit its lowest level since 2024, testing a significant demand zone at $1.

Activity on the XRP Ledger has also surged, with a 33% increase in transaction count. On August 11, 2026, the network recorded its highest daily activity in six months, processing approximately 35,700 transactions per day, a sharp rise compared to July’s daily average of around 26,400.

While the price of XRP fell 29%, network activity on XRP Ledger jumped 33% in three months, hitting its busiest day in half a year on August 11, 2026.

However, this increase in transactions appears to stem primarily from existing XRP holders rather than new wallet creation. The data suggests that current investors are becoming more active, signaling ongoing engagement and possibly a shift toward a long-term holding strategy.

Trading volumes and market sentimentOn the technical front, XRP has remained within a falling wedge pattern between $1 and $3, typically suggesting a potential for future volatility. Analysts continue to watch closely to determine whether XRP will break upward or downward from this formation. Spot trading volumes remain relatively muted, with XRP posting $858 million in volume over a recent 24-hour period, according to CoinGecko.

Futures market activity paints a more dynamic picture. Leveraged traders drove $1.49 billion in 24-hour trading volume, heavily skewed toward long positions. However, the majority of liquidations affected bullish bets, with $1.77 million from a total of $1.85 million wiped out on the long side. The long-to-short ratio across the market now stands at 0.92, indicating more traders are wagering against a price increase.

MarketLong/Short Ratio24h Futures VolumeDaily Liquidations (Longs)Global0.92$1.49 billion$1.77 millionBinance3.0225N/AN/AIn contrast, Binance, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, recorded a significantly higher long-to-short ratio on XRP at 3.0225, suggesting greater bullish sentiment among its users. CoinGlass, a platform specializing in derivatives market data, provided these figures, indicating varying sentiment across exchanges.

Santiment’s report links the growth in high-value wallets to possible optimism over ongoing regulatory developments and potential for broader XRP adoption.

Ripple, the US-based technology company behind XRP, continues to support legislative initiatives such as the CLARITY Act. The bill is expected for consideration in mid-September and could deliver clearer regulatory guidance for digital asset markets.

Mini dictionary: CLARITY Act, a proposed US legislative bill aimed at clarifying the regulatory status of digital assets and offering a standardized framework for crypto market participants.

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.

Ripple-backed XRP treasury Evernorth Holdings on Thursday said it has amended subscription agreements for its private placement related to its proposed merger with Armada Acquisition Corp II. It means fewer shares issued and more XRP behind every share ahead of Nasdaq listing.

Ripple-Backed Evernorth Holdings Nears Merger and Nasdaq Listing
Evernorth Holdings, the Ripple-backed XRP treasury, filed amendment no 6 to its Form S-4 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on August 13.

The Ripple-backed firm claimed it has strengthened public investors’ positioning as it advances toward a Nasdaq listing. This structure is expected to reduce the total number of shares issued, focusing the company’s net asset value across fewer shares. This means each share will represent a larger portion of Evernorth’s XRP holdings.

The amendment is intended to maintain alignment between the company’s capitalization and the market value of its underlying XRP holdings at closing. It will be a volume-weighted average XRP price, rather than $2.36, as of when the merger agreement was signed.

“Tying the share count to XRP’s value at closing is the right thing to do for Evernorth and our investors,” said Asheesh Birla, founder and CEO of Evernorth Holdings.

Notably, Evernorth Holdings has raised over $1 billion from investors including Arrington Capital, SBI Group, Ripple, Pantera Capital, Kraken, and GSR, among others.

XRPN Stock Jumps
Armada Acquisition Corp II’s XRPN stock price has retained its upside momentum despite XRP price drops and Clarity Act delays. XRPN stock hits a new YTD high of $10.50 in premarket hours on Thursday.

The stock closed 0.19% higher at $10.48 on Wednesday. The intraday low and high were $10.45 and $10.49, respectively. Trading volume is also rebounding as Ripple-backed Evernorth Holdings nears a merger after finalizing employment agreements.

XRPN stock is up 2.54% year-to-date as investors await Armada Acquisition Corp’s stockholders and the SEC’s approval of the merger with Evernorth Holdings.

Nasdaq-listed stock has surged nearly 0.30% in the past month, with potential for further upside moves. The 52-week high is $10.91.

Armada Acquisition Corp II’s XRPN Stock Price. Source: Google Finance
Meanwhile, XRP price is trading in the $1-1.02 range after falling more than 3% in a week. The price is currently trading at $1.01, down more than 1% over the past 24 hours.

Furthermore, trading volume has dropped further by 34% over the last 24 hours. However, institutions are increasing exposure via XRP ETFs. As CoinGape reported, JPMorgan revealed holdings in Bitwise and Grayscale XRP ETFs, along with Armada Acquisition Corp II.

Investors wanting to access similar high-growth companies before they go public can utilize the best pre-IPO token platforms to acquire fractionalized private shares on-chain.

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EvernorthXRP, a Ripple-backed XRP treasury firm, has amended the terms of its SPAC merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II. The change links the issuance of shares to the closing price of XRP rather than a fixed $2.36 reference. This adjustment in the merger terms suggests a move to align more closely with the token’s market value. The merger aims to list EvernorthXRP on Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN. The firm has indicated plans to acquire at least 473 million XRP at the merger’s inception, with previous purchases reported at an average price of $2.54 per XRP.

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Key Takeaways EvernorthXRP’s decision appears to align share issuance more closely with XRP’s market value, suggesting potential implications for XRP’s pricing dynamics. The market’s reaction to this amendment is currently muted, with XRP-related prediction markets indicating low probability of reaching higher price levels in August. The amendment suggests a possible anticipation of price fluctuations, which may influence market participants’ expectations and behaviors. What to Watch The amended merger terms could impact XRP’s market sentiment and pricing dynamics. Key developments to monitor include any regulatory updates from the SEC that could affect XRP, as well as broader crypto market movements. Watch for any major announcements from Ripple or EvernorthXRP that could serve as catalysts for XRP’s price movement. Additionally, sustained interest in XRP from institutional investors or changes in broader market conditions could further influence the outlook.

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Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h September 1 2026 0.5% — — View market → September 1 2026 2% — — View market → September 1 2026 0.7% — — View market → September 1 2026 5.9% — — View market → September 1 2026 6.5% — — View market → September 1 2026 1.7% — — View market →

In brief Derive now accepts Flare’s FXRP as collateral for XRP options and perpetual futures. Users can trade through their own wallets without relying on a centralized exchange. Options settle in USDC, exposing traders to margin and liquidation risks. XRP holders can now use Flare’s FXRP as collateral to trade options and perpetual futures on decentralized exchange Derive, Flare announced on Thursday.

According to Flare, users mint FXRP, a token representing XRP on the Flare blockchain, through its FAssets bridge that converts tokens like Bitcoin, XRP, and Dogecoin into ERC-20 tokens on the Flare network. They can then deposit the token into a Derive Portfolio Margin V2 account and trade derivatives from their own wallets.

Myriad: XRP price next move? Click to make your prediction.Options give traders the right to buy or sell an asset at a set price. Perpetual futures allow them to bet on price movements without an expiration date. XRP holders can use the products to hedge against losses, earn premiums by selling options, or speculate on the token’s price.

“Options are often the last major market to develop around an asset, and XRP has been waiting for the infrastructure,” founder and CEO of Derive, Nick Forster, said in a statement. “FXRP gives one of crypto’s largest holder bases a credible path onchain, and adding Derive’s options markets means that capital can now be hedged, used to earn premium and traded with the same sophistication available around other major assets.”

Derive’s XRP options settle in USDC rather than XRP. If an option expires at a profit, Derive pays the difference in the dollar-pegged stablecoin while the FXRP remains posted as collateral. Options sellers must hold enough USDC to cover settlement and maintain the required margin or risk liquidation.

The integration broadens FXRP’s use in decentralized finance. Earlier this month, FXRP was approved as collateral in DeFi risk management firm Sentora’s RLUSD Main vault on the Ethereum-based lending protocol Morpho. That service allows XRP holders to bridge FXRP to Ethereum and borrow Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin without selling their XRP.

Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.

In major XRP news today, Ripple moved a significant amount of XRP coins to Binance crypto exchange. On-chain transaction data revealed transfers to a Ripple subwallet, followed by further transfers to Binance subwallets. This comes amid selling pressure in XRP price.

Ripple Moves Some XRP to Binance, Sparking Jitters Whale Alert flagged a major XRP transfer that highlighted Ripple moving 50 million XRP worth over $50 million. This sparked massive speculation within the XRP community amid a recent drop in price.

On-chain analysis on XRPScan revealed Ripple (50) wallet moved XRP to its subwallet raRVLN1. This indicates it is an internal transfer.

However, shortly after the transaction, the same wallet distributed some coins, primarily 1,000,000 XRP per transaction, to rBNCyN wallet address. The wallet is associated with Binance crypto exchange.

Notably, the Ripple-linked wallet has also sent 23 million XRP in total to rBNCyN wallet this week, which were then transferred to Binance (11).

Ripple Subwallet Transfer to Binance. Source: XRPScan On-chain data from XRPScan showed the Ripple subwallet executed multiple XRP transfers to these Binance-associated wallets. This is likely a Ripple operational liquidity wallet used for on-demand liquidity (ODL) or market making purposes.

Will XRP Price Witness Further Pullback or Rally? XRP price has dropped 0.5% despite Ripple’s push for XRP Ledger upgrade. The price has dropped more than 7% in a week, but has held above $1 in hopes of a breakout above the descending channel.

XRP rebounded almost 1.50% to trade above $1.01 today amid rising whale wallets and network activity. The 24-hour low and high are $1. and $1.02, respectively. However, trading volume has decreased by 24% over the last 24 hours.

However, CoinGlass data shows buying activity in the derivatives market. The total XRP futures open interest climbed more than 0.75% in 24 hours to $2.72 billion.

Notably, the 4-hour futures open interest has rebounded 0.74%. It dropped 1.18% on CME, but jumped on Binance, OKX, Bybit and other crypto exchanges.

If you’re looking to do in-depth research before deciding to invest in crypto, check out our recommendations for the best crypto tools for research and analysis.

Ripple could move ahead with its institutional strategy even as the CLARITY Act faces fresh delays in the US Senate, according to leading crypto researcher SMOKE. SMOKE emphasized that while ongoing regulatory uncertainty poses challenges for digital assets, Ripple’s expansion need not remain on hold.

Alternative regulatory pathwaysThe CLARITY Act is a proposed bill that would create comprehensive digital asset regulations in the US, including clearer guidance on token classification and expanded federal oversight. Although such legislation could offer crucial certainty to the entire crypto industry, analysts point out that it is not the exclusive path to regulatory legitimacy for blockchain firms.

Ripple, a US-based blockchain payments company best known for its XRP token, has already secured a conditional national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC granted this approval in December 2025, paving the way for Ripple to potentially operate as a federally supervised trust bank.

Mini dictionary: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a US federal agency that supervises and regulates national banks and federal savings associations, ensuring their soundness and compliance with federal laws.

A federally licensed trust bank structure could position Ripple more strongly with regulated financial businesses. This development could be especially relevant for institutional custody, stablecoin issuance, and RLUSD reserve management—key areas for the company’s growth outside traditional payments.

Conditional progress and broader industry impactSMOKE maintains that if Congress continues to stall on the CLARITY Act, Ripple’s conditional OCC charter can still serve as an important avenue for regulatory advancement. However, the approval remains provisional, meaning Ripple does not yet function as a fully established national bank. Moreover, OCC oversight applies specifically to Ripple’s trust bank, and cannot replace broad industrywide rules that only federal legislation can deliver.

Both the CLARITY Act and the OCC charter could ultimately complement each other. The former would address digital asset regulation at the national level, while the latter offers Ripple a firm-specific regulatory path. Ripple could stand to benefit if both initiatives move forward, gaining both market clarity and an upgraded regulatory infrastructure.

InitiativeScopeStatusPotential Benefit for RippleCLARITY ActAll US digital asset companiesDelayed in US SenateClear federal rules for industryOCC CharterRipple-specificConditionally approved (Dec 2025)Federal trust bank operationsUS regulatory outlook and ongoing expansionMeanwhile, the US Securities and Exchange Commission is evaluating new regulatory strategies for digital assets. Lawmakers are expected to revisit the CLARITY Act after the Congressional recess in August, but prospects for swift passage remain uncertain as attention turns to September.

SMOKE describes Ripple’s regulatory strategy as multi-pronged, arguing that the company can keep building across payments, stablecoins, tokenization, and custody, regardless of congressional delays.

Despite legislative uncertainty, XRP adoption and Ripple’s infrastructure development can continue. The company’s expansion in institutional sectors and cross-border transactions could drive new opportunities for both XRP and the XRP Ledger network.

Ripple’s path is not contingent on the CLARITY Act passing. Should federal crypto legislation advance, Ripple could eventually benefit from having both a broader regulatory framework and its own bank charter. Until then, the company can pursue its ambitions and the use of XRP does not need to pause.

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.

3 hrs ago

3 min read

The Department of Labor Statistics is due to release July inflation data. (Department of Labor)Summary

This is an excerpt from CoinDesk newsletter 'Daybook.' Sign up here, if you haven't already.

Wednesday’s big story is XRP (XRP), the payments-focused cryptocurrency. Not only did a bridge linking to the XRP Ledger experience an exploit early today, but the token price also hovers near a level that, if breached, could embolden bears.

That level is $1. Prices briefly fell to 99 cents on some exchanges on Tuesday and, while they quickly recovered, the bounce looked to have stalled near $1.02. XRP has lagged behind bitcoin and the broader market recovery in recent days.

What’s more, open interest in XRP futures has risen to 2.67 billion XRP ($2.73 billion), the most since October, from 2.25 billion XRP at the start of the month. This buildup of leverage while XRP trades at this price points to potential volatility.

That means XRP is more vulnerable than other major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin BTC$63,704.66, ether ETH$1,893.43 and solana (SOL) to the U.S. CPI release later today. A hotter-than-forecast reading would strengthen bets on Fed interest-rate increases and drive already-buoyant Treasury yields higher, creating headwinds for risk assets.

Forecasts point to 0.1% month-on-month growth in the headline CPI for July, up from June’s –0.4% reading. The year-on-year figure is expected at 3.4%, down from 3.5%, and annual core CPI inflation is seen dropping to 2.5% from 2.6%.

According to ING, a softer-than-expected print could weaken the dollar, an outcome that could bode well for the crypto market.

In bitcoin’s case, traders are hoping the report will push the price out of its recent trading range of $62,000 to $66,000. However, the way BTC options are currently priced suggests low expectations for CPI-driven fireworks.

Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, said the market is pricing a post-CPI swing of just 1.3%, which is nothing out of the ordinary.

Data tracking website Laevitas made a similar observation: “7d ATM IV [implied volatility] has compressed to 29.1v on BTC and 41.2v on ETH even as a binary July print lands inside the weekly window, so the term structure is declining to price the event risk that sits directly on the tape,” Laevitas said on X.

The fact that expectations remain low could be just the setup for markets to be surprised into action by a potential big beat or miss in the inflation figures. Stay alert!

Read more: For analysis of today's activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today . For a comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk's "Crypto Week Ahead."

What’s trendingOne overlooked group has added $1.78 billion of selling pressure to bitcoin market (CoinDesk): Bitcoin’s 27% price slide this year isn’t just about ETFs and digital asset treasuries. Public miners have been an under-recognized supply source hitting the market right at the margin.XRP bridge drained for $200,000 after software mistook fake deposits for real ones (CoinDesk): An XRP bridge lost nearly 200,000 XRP, worth about $200,000 at current prices, after a software flaw let an attacker claim deposits that were never made, then withdraw real tokens against the fake balances.Here's what bitcoin and ether traders are doing ahead of the binary U.S. CPI print (CoinDesk): If the July U.S. consumer price index is higher than expected, the Federal Reserve could go for a rate hike in September. Traders are positioning in different ways ahead of the data release. Some are buying upside exposure. Others are focusing on higher volatility.Today’s signalXRP's price chart. (TradingView)The chart shows XRP’s weekly price swings in candlestick format since 2023.

The token’s price peaked above $3.50 in July last year and has been declining ever since. It is now hovering close to $1. A drop under this level would be the first since November 2024, when Donald Trump won the presidential election.

In that case, the July 2023 high of 92 cents, where buyers ran out of steam, could now act as support on the way lower. If that level gives way, the next potential support is seen directly at around 50 cents.

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Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness

Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

Jun 30, 2026

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

Why it matters:

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

XRP, haftalık kayıplarını yaklaşık yüzde 7’ye taşırken yıl başından bu yana yaşadığı düşüş yüzde 69,4’e ulaştı. XRP böylece 2024’ün son çeyreğinde 1 dolar seviyesinin üzerine çıkmasından bu yana en düşük fiyat bölgesine geriledi. Mevcut görünüm, altcoin için 1 dolar desteğinin yeniden test edilmesi ve aşağı yönlü kırılması riskini artırıyor.

Fiyat baskısının arkasında yalnızca teknik göstergeler bulunmuyor. XRP Ledger üzerindeki ağ aktivitesinin zayıflaması, ABD’de kripto düzenlemelerine ilişkin Clarity Act sürecinin ertelenmesi ve XRP ETF’lerine yönelik girişlerin belirgin biçimde yavaşlaması satış baskısını güçlendiriyor.

XRP 1 Dolar Desteğini Koruyabilecek Mi? XRP’nin teknik görünümü Temmuz 2025’te 3,658 dolarla kaydettiği zirvenin ardından bozulmaya başladı. Altcoin, Ekim 2025’te yaşanan düşüş yönlü hareketli ortalama kesişiminin ardından da aşağı yönlü trendini sürdürdü.

Mevcut durumda XRP, 9 ve 21 günlük basit hareketli ortalamalarının altında işlem görüyor. Para Akış Endeksi (MFI) ise 20,42 seviyesine gerileyerek aşırı satım bölgesine girdi. Göstergedeki bu zayıflama, piyasadan sermaye çıkışının arttığını ve 1 doların altına sarkma riskinin yükseldiğini gösteriyor.

XRP’nin son dönemde gördüğü 1,0049 dolarlık seviye de dikkat çekiyor. Kasım 2024’ten bu yana görülen en düşük fiyat olan bu bölge, yatırımcı psikolojisi açısından uzun vadeli bir eşik niteliği taşıyor ve son iki yıla yakın dönemin en güçlü negatif görünümüne işaret ediyor.

Clarity Act Ve ETF Akışları Neden Önemli? XRP’deki zayıflığı yalnızca fiyat grafiği üzerinden değerlendirmek yeterli değil. Kripto para piyasası açısından ABD’deki düzenleyici gelişmeler ve kurumsal talep de mevcut görünüm üzerinde etkili oluyor.

Clarity Act sürecinin ertelenmesi, ABD’de kripto varlıkların benimsenmesine yönelik beklentileri baskıladı. Bu gelişmeyle birlikte XRP ETF’lerine yönelik sermaye girişleri de belirgin biçimde yavaşladı. 2025’in sonlarında haftalık girişler 100 milyon doların üzerindeyken, son dönemde bu rakam birkaç milyon dolara kadar geriledi.

Son haftada XRP ETF’lerine yalnızca 14,86 milyon dolarlık net giriş gerçekleşti. Dolayısıyla kurumsal taraftaki talebin önceki dönemlere kıyasla ciddi biçimde zayıflaması, XRP fiyatı üzerindeki baskıyı artıran faktörlerden biri olarak öne çıkıyor.

XRP Ledger Aktivitesinde Ne Kadar Gerileme Var? XRP’nin temel görünümünü değerlendirmek isteyen yatırımcılar için ağ aktivitesindeki değişim de önemli bir gösterge oluşturuyor. Aylık aktif adres sayısı son dönemde yüzde 9,40 azalırken metrik 175,1 bin seviyesine geriledi.

Bu rakam, Aralık 2024’te kaydedilen 654,2 bin aktif adrese kıyasla yaklaşık yüzde 73’lük bir düşüş anlamına geliyor. Ağdaki kullanıcı aktivitesinin bu ölçüde gerilemesi, XRP ekosistemine yönelik kullanım talebinin zayıfladığına dair önemli bir sinyal veriyor.

Aylık token işlem hacmi de yüzde 38,7 düşerek 29,6 milyar dolara indi. Bununla birlikte XRP’nin günlük borsa işlemlerinin ortalama değeri yaklaşık 1 milyar dolar seviyesinde kalıyor.

XRP’de Likidite Ve Ücretler Ne Söylüyor? XRP Ledger üzerindeki işlem ücretleri de ağ kullanımındaki zayıflığı destekliyor. Son bir yıl içinde ağdaki ücret geliri 111,387 bin dolardan yaklaşık 10 bin dolara geriledi. Böylece ücretlerde yaklaşık on katlık bir düşüş meydana geldi.

Zincirdeki likidite görünümü de benzer şekilde baskı altında. XRP Ledger üzerindeki stablecoin piyasa değeri 855,6 milyon dolara düşerken toplam değer yüzde 14,8 azaldı. Bu gerileme, ağ üzerindeki stablecoin talebinin de zayıfladığını gösteriyor.

Dolayısıyla XRP için 1 dolar seviyesi yalnızca teknik bir destek olarak değil, mevcut piyasa koşullarının test edileceği kritik bir psikolojik eşik olarak öne çıkıyor.

Bu içerik kesinlikle yatırım tavsiyesi niteliği taşımamaktadır. Piyasalar yüksek risk içermektedir ve yatırım kararlarınızı almadan önce kendi araştırmanızı yapmanız önemlidir.

Son Dakika kripto para haberleri için hemen tıkla.

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The XRP Ledger is gaining fresh attention as Ripple expands its work with traditional finance, while Digital Asset CEO Yuval Rooz warns that crypto networks will eventually be judged by the utility and revenue they create. At the same time, banks are already using public blockchain infrastructure without waiting for the US Clarity Act.

Ripple Pushes XRP Ledger Into Traditional FinanceAviva Investors has tokenized its US dollar liquidity fund on the XRP Ledger as part of its partnership with Ripple. The firm manages over £30 billion in liquidity strategies and will work with Ripple through 2026 to explore more tokenization opportunities. The company stated tokenization does not change a fund’s underlying assets, NAV or risk profile. 

It simply records ownership digitally, which could make transactions faster and more efficient. The move shows growing interest in using the XRP Ledger for real-world assets and traditional finance. 

Banks Are Already Using Public ChainsThe discussion also pushed back against the idea that banks must wait for the US Clarity Act before using public blockchain networks. Rooz said banks are already using public chains, including Canton.

He noted that around 50 vendors are preparing applications for Canton ahead of the DTCC’s planned production launch in October. He also pointed to the scale of US financial markets, with equities and Treasuries together approaching $70 trillion, arguing that the industry should think beyond crypto’s current billion-dollar TVL figures.

Utility Could Separate Winners From LosersRooz further warned that many crypto networks have valuations disconnected from the actual economic activity they generate. He argued that networks making promises without delivering useful products could eventually lose most of their value.

Hyperliquid was presented as an example of a network generating revenue and using it to burn tokens, creating a model closer to a profitable public company returning value through buybacks.

He also criticized changing industry narratives, noting how crypto shifted from permissionless systems toward privacy and control. According to Rooz, maintaining a consistent product strategy helped his company nearly triple its valuation over 24 months, even while the broader market declined around 40% over the past year.

The latest funding round was led by Andreesen Horowitz and included Apollo, CME, HSBC, SoFi, SBI Japan and Hana Bank Korea, with Shinhan Financial Group joining at the last moment after the round became oversubscribed.

According to him, the company still has substantial work ahead to deliver on its projects and maintain that growth.

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