Key Highlights
- Steven McClurg, CEO of Canary Capital, believes XRP price could surge past $2.80 before 2026 ends, fueled by a 30% rise in ETF investment.
- Last week saw XRP ETFs attract $60 million in net capital, marking the year’s best weekly showing and pushing total accumulated inflows to $1.39 billion.
- XRPL mainnet version 3.1.3 goes live May 27, with half of all network nodes already running the updated software.
- Large holders purchased more than 71 million XRP tokens over seven days, while 4,300 fresh addresses emerged within a single day.
- XRP futures contracts on CME Group generated $62.87 billion in notional trading volume during their inaugural year, with daily averages reaching $238 million.
XRP maintains a trading range between $1.36 and $1.40, with $1.40 serving as a critical overhead barrier. While institutional participation remains solid, price action has consolidated lately.
CME Group’s suite of XRP derivatives contracts surpassed $62.87 billion in notional value during their first year of operation. Daily trading averaged $238 million, encompassing approximately 1.32 million contracts and representing exposure to roughly 28.6 billion XRP tokens.
Speaking to media outlets this week, Canary Capital’s Steven McClurg suggested XRP might “probably double in price by the end of the year.” Based on the current $1.40 level, such a move would push XRP beyond $2.80 come December.
McClurg also anticipates a 30% expansion in exchange-traded fund participation before year-end. He acknowledged the journey wouldn’t be smooth, warning that “a tough summer for equities and crypto across the board” lies ahead.
His outlook breaks into three distinct phases. Initially, markets face challenging summer conditions. Next, midterm election dynamics will likely pull capital away from risk assets. Finally, a post-election rally should emerge, propelled by ETF capital flows, the CLARITY Act implementation, and expansion of tokenized real-world assets.
XRP exchange-traded funds registered $60 million in net additions last week, representing 2026’s strongest seven-day performance. Total accumulated inflows now reach $1.39 billion.
Network Metrics Show Acceleration
Blockchain intelligence platform Santiment identified notable expansion in XRP network participation this week. Data from Santiment reveals 4,300 newly created wallets within a 24-hour window—the fourth-largest daily increase recorded in 2026. The analytics firm emphasized that network growth typically serves as a reliable indicator for anticipating price trend reversals.
Large holder activity also indicates accumulation trends. Blockchain monitoring shows major addresses added over 71 million XRP during the past seven days, although the accumulation rate has decelerated from earlier monthly levels.
Mainnet Upgrade Arrives May 27
The XRP Ledger faces a scheduled mainnet deployment on May 27 at 03:49 AM UTC. Version 3.1.3 incorporates the fixCleanup3_1_3 amendment, resolving various issues affecting NFTs, Permissioned Domains, Vaults, and the Lending Protocol infrastructure.
Currently, half of all network nodes operate the updated software version. Validator consensus on the amendment stands at 100%. Nodes failing to upgrade face “amendment-blocked” status, rendering them unable to process transactions or contribute to network consensus mechanisms.
David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO Emeritus, has responded to community questions surrounding the upgrade. This deployment aligns with XRPL’s broader development agenda, which encompasses tokenized real-world asset frameworks, permissioned decentralized exchange capabilities, and post-quantum cryptographic security enhancements.
Options market participants maintain optimistic positioning for a return to $1.40 before month-end. Futures open interest has climbed in recent days preceding the upgrade, though subdued spot market volumes present a note of caution for near-term price momentum.
Market analyst CRYPTOWZRD observed that a decisive breakout above $1.40 would establish a pathway toward $1.55, with subsequent movement past $1.55 potentially targeting the $2.00 threshold.
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