* Ripple (XRP) partnered with Mastercard to pilot RLUSD stablecoin settlements on XRP Ledger for credit card transactions.
* Ripple raised $500M at a $40B valuation from Fortress and Citadel Securities to scale custody and stablecoin services.
* Franklin Templeton filed an amended S-1 for a spot XRP ETF that could receive approval before November ends.
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Regulatory chaos kept XRP stuck in neutral for years. Now the picture’s completely different. Ripple’s building real partnerships with massive global players, and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is back on traders’ radar screens.
The past year brought something crypto hasn’t seen much of lately: actual progress. Strategic deals got signed, institutions started paying attention, and regulators backed off a bit. Now investors want to know if XRP can finally crack $5 in 2026, as the setup looks better than it has in a long time.
XRP Price Performance Over the Last Six Months
XRP was on a wild ride in August. The token hit $3.66 back then, riding a wave of optimism that had traders excited about altcoins again. Institutions were buying, retail was jumping back in, and everything looked bullish.
Then reality hit. Profit-takers showed up first, locking in gains after the August peak. Trading volume started dropping off, the broader crypto market lost steam, and XRP couldn’t hold the highs.
September brought the first real damage. XRP slipped below $3.00 and kept sliding. Then a crypto flash crash in mid-October smashed through support at $2.70, then $2.50. Every time XRP tried to bounce, sellers showed up at those same levels and pushed it back down.
But what matters is that XRP’s still up 312% over the past year. The six-month chart looks rough, but the annual return tells a different story about long-term momentum.
Drivers Pushing XRP Toward $5 in 2026
Several big developments are lining up for 2026. Each one changes the game for XRP in different ways.
Mastercard Just Partnered With Ripple for Stablecoin Settlements
Ripple announced a partnership with Mastercard, Gemini, and WebBank at the Swell 2025 conference. They’re piloting RLUSD stablecoin settlements on the XRP Ledger for real credit card transactions.
WebBank is a regulated U.S. bank, and Mastercard is one of the biggest payment networks on earth. They’re going to settle actual Mastercard transactions using a stablecoin on a public blockchain. That’s never happened before at this scale.
