Will XRP Finally Break Past $5 by 2026

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.

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 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.