Foreign media report that the Ripple ecosystem has recently diverged: the scale of the USD stablecoin RLUSD continues to grow, but market sentiment toward XRP has clearly weakened. The article suggests these two developments are related, but does not imply that RLUSD’s growth will directly drive an increase in XRP’s price.
RLUSD expansion comes from payment scenarios
The market cap of RLUSD has surpassed $1.7 billion. The article states that this growth is primarily driven by its inclusion in Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity system for cross-border payment settlements requiring price stability.
For banks and payment institutions, stability is more important than volatility. RLUSD’s dollar-pegged nature is well-suited to high-frequency, large-volume settlement needs. Based on this, the article concludes that this milestone better reflects growing institutional adoption of Ripple’s payment infrastructure, rather than rising retail sentiment.
The article also notes that RLUSD and XRP serve different functions within the same system: RLUSD is primarily a stable settlement instrument, while XRP’s value is more dependent on liquidity and market-making demand. Therefore, an increase in RLUSD trading volume does not automatically translate into higher XRP prices.
XRP sentiment weakens, trading volume declines
The article states that XRP has declined 11.6% since May 14. Since February of this year, the price has fluctuated broadly between $1.11 and $1.67, failing to establish a clear direction.
Meanwhile, trading volume in 2026 has significantly declined compared to 2025. Santiment data shows that bearish comments on social platforms have nearly outnumbered bullish ones, pushing market sentiment into the "extreme fear" zone.
The article suggests that retail investors are growing weary of the prolonged sideways movement, while institutional adoption continues to advance. This disparity between "infrastructure expansion" and "token price stagnation" is the primary source of current dissatisfaction.
Analysts are watching the $3 key level.
Cryptocurrency analyst EGRAG Crypto believes that a descending expansion wedge has formed in the XRP price structure, with lows occurring at $1.61, $1.37, and $1.11.
According to this analysis, if the pattern breaks upward, the target range could be $7 to $11, provided the price first rises above the upper boundary of $3; if the support at $1.11 is broken, the price may decline further to $0.32.
The article also notes that, absent any significant change in current conditions, XRP is more likely to continue trading between $1.40 and $1.60 in the short term.
Institutional network expansion has not been transmitted to cryptocurrency prices.
The article states that the Ripple network currently connects over 300 institutional participants, and RLUSD continues to expand. However, these developments have not yet translated into strong performance for XRP.
The article also mentions that the U.S. CLARITY Act is currently advancing in the Senate, citing opinions that it has a high likelihood of becoming law by 2026. The article’s central assessment is that the current market divide is not about whether Ripple will continue building infrastructure, but rather when those efforts will be reflected in XRP’s pricing.