Key Takeaways
- Canary Capital’s CEO Steven McClurg forecasts XRP climbing to over $2.80 before 2026 concludes, anticipating a 30% surge in ETF capital inflows.
- Last week marked the strongest ETF performance of 2026 for XRP, with $60 million in fresh inflows pushing total cumulative flows to $1.39 billion.
- A major XRP Ledger (XRPL) mainnet update version 3.1.3 is slated for deployment on May 27, with half of all nodes already running the new software.
- Large holders added more than 71 million XRP tokens during the past seven days, while the network saw 4,300 newly created wallets within a single day.
- The XRP futures contract suite from CME Group registered $62.87 billion in total notional value during its inaugural year, with daily averages reaching $238 million.
XRP has been hovering in the $1.36–$1.40 trading corridor and is now testing a critical resistance barrier at the $1.40 level. While institutional participation remains consistent, the token’s price action has been confined to a tight range over recent sessions.
The futures product suite for XRP launched by CME Group has accumulated more than $62.87 billion in notional trading activity since its debut one year ago. Daily trading volume has averaged $238 million, with approximately 1.32 million contracts changing hands and total exposure equivalent to roughly 28.6 billion XRP tokens.
Speaking with media outlets this week, Canary Capital’s CEO Steven McClurg stated that XRP has the potential to “probably double in price by the end of the year.” With current valuations hovering near $1.40, such a move would propel XRP beyond the $2.80 threshold by December.
McClurg also anticipates a 30% expansion in exchange-traded fund participation before year-end. However, he cautioned that the journey upward won’t be smooth, characterizing the upcoming summer months as “a tough summer for equities and crypto across the board.”
His outlook is structured around three distinct market phases. The initial phase involves challenging summer conditions. The second phase encompasses a slowdown during the midterm election cycle as investors pull capital from risk assets. The final phase features a post-election rally fueled by ETF momentum, implementation of the CLARITY Act, and accelerated tokenization of real-world assets.
XRP-focused ETFs attracted $60 million in net capital last week, representing the strongest weekly performance recorded in 2026. Total cumulative inflows have now reached $1.39 billion.
Network Activity Shows Bullish Signals
Blockchain analytics provider Santiment identified a notable surge in XRP network expansion during the current week. Data from Santiment reveals that 4,300 fresh wallet addresses were generated within a 24-hour window — marking the fourth-largest single-day spike seen in 2026. The firm emphasized that network growth metrics often serve as leading indicators for potential price trend reversals.
Large wallet holder activity also demonstrated bullish behavior. Blockchain tracking data indicates that whale addresses accumulated in excess of 71 million XRP during the previous seven-day period, although the accumulation rate has decelerated compared to activity observed earlier this month.
Major XRPL Network Upgrade Scheduled for May 27
The XRP Ledger has a mainnet software upgrade planned for May 27 at precisely 03:49 AM UTC. The v3.1.3 software release incorporates the fixCleanup3_1_3 amendment, which resolves various technical issues affecting NFTs, Permissioned Domains, Vaults, and the network’s Lending Protocol.
Current statistics show that 50% of network nodes have already implemented the updated software version. Validators have achieved complete consensus at 100% on approving the amendment. Nodes that fail to upgrade face the risk of becoming “amendment-blocked,” which would prevent them from processing transactions or participating in the network’s consensus mechanism.
David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO Emeritus, has responded to community questions and concerns surrounding the upgrade. This update represents part of a comprehensive XRPL development roadmap that encompasses tokenized real-world asset infrastructure, permissioned decentralized exchange functionality, and post-quantum cryptographic security enhancements.
Derivatives market participants maintain an optimistic stance on XRP potentially reclaiming the $1.40 price level before month-end. Futures open interest has been climbing in the days leading up to the scheduled upgrade, though subdued spot market trading volumes remain a point of caution for near-term price momentum.
Market analyst CRYPTOWZRD highlighted that a decisive breakthrough above the $1.40 resistance zone would establish a pathway toward $1.55, with a subsequent move above that level potentially targeting the $2.00 psychological barrier.
