Ripple has accelerated its engagement with major financial institutions, expanding into new areas of institutional finance. Despite these moves, XRP, the native cryptocurrency tied to Ripple’s network, has faced persistent losses in 2026. As of October 24, XRP traded close to $1.29, deepening its year-to-date decline to roughly 30% from its January opening price of about $1.84.
Ripple strengthens presence in Wall Street tokenization projects
Ripple Prime is now participating alongside over 50 prominent companies in the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s (DTCC) initiative focused on bringing traditional securities onto blockchain platforms. DTCC, the largest clearing and settlement service for financial markets in the US, confirmed the working group also features BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Robinhood.
This initiative seeks to digitally represent eligible securities on blockchains, while maintaining their original investor rights and protections. Although Ripple Prime has secured a position in this influential group, DTCC has yet to endorse the use of XRP or the XRP Ledger for settlement and trading in these pilot tokenization efforts.
DTCC’s first on-chain tokenization trades, launched in July, operated on other blockchain technologies. So far, neither settlement on the XRP Ledger nor mandatory use of XRP tokens has been announced.
Coinpaper indicated that while Ripple Prime’s inclusion is notable, confirmed utility for XRP or its ledger remains unverified in this context.
Mini dictionary: DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation) is a core player in US financial infrastructure, providing clearing, settlement, and information services for the majority of US securities transactions.
New Ripple partnerships and business expansion
Ripple Prime, the institutional arm of Ripple, has also recently entered partnerships and expanded its derivatives business. On October 15, Ripple Prime launched perpetual swaps referencing over 100 markets, including equities, metals, and fiat currencies. These contracts are settled on Hyperliquid, not on the XRP Ledger.
Additionally, Ripple confirmed a new partnership with South Korea’s Meritz Securities on October 14, aiming to develop institutional custody solutions and enable tokenized asset offerings. This marks Ripple’s fourth institutional agreement in South Korea in 2026 following prior banking and insurance partnerships. Nevertheless, none of these deals has been linked to major XRP purchases by the partners.
Ripple also inked an agreement with DriveWealth, a brokerage technology provider, to modernize cross-border brokerage funding using stablecoin and payment solutions. DriveWealth offers infrastructure to more than 100 institutional clients, although the extent of their use of Ripple’s systems remains unknown.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, CSD BR—a key local financial market infrastructure provider—has started using the XRP Ledger to mirror the records of fund ownership. However, Brazil’s regulated systems are still recognized as the primary securities ledger.
Ripple’s growth diverges from XRP price trends
Ripple continues to earn revenue from custody, brokerage, payment services, and software infrastructure, regardless of actual XRP purchases by its clients. Even where transactions occur on the XRP Ledger network, minimal fees limit token demand. Coinpaper observed that around 6.05 billion XRP were transferred to exchanges over a recent month, but these deposits do not confirm actual market sales.
Institutional interest in XRP has recently showed signs of cooling. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to XRP ended a 13-week streak of net inflows, despite previously steady investment activity.
| Metric | Current Status (October 2026) | Previous Period |
|---|---|---|
| XRP Price | $1.29 | $1.84 (January 2026) |
| Year-to-Date Change | -30% | – |
| ETF Inflow Streak | Ended | 13 weeks of inflows |
| XRP Moved to Exchanges (30 days) | 6.05 billion XRP | – |
For investors, the rise in Ripple’s institutional activities remains important, but a direct link to significant XRP demand has not been demonstrated. As Ripple’s commercial partnerships grow, the impact on XRP’s market performance continues to be unclear, suggesting the two may progress independently in the near term.
Ripple’s pursuit of institutional adoption has advanced rapidly, but the connection between these high-profile developments and sustained growth in XRP’s price remains limited in 2026.
