XRP's Infrastructure Boom Isn't the Same as Token Demand
Published on 10/18/2026 at 19:30 | Editorial boerse-global.de
XRP slipped 2.3% on the day, caught in a broader crypto retreat as rising US Treasury yields, shifting expectations around Federal Reserve policy and hotter-than-forecast US consumer inflation set a defensive tone across digital assets. Those macro forces frame the selling, though they don't fully account for the size of the move. No fresh XRP-specific announcement drove the session; instead, profit-taking met softer payment activity and recent outflows from XRP funds.
The distinction that keeps surfacing for anyone holding the token is between Ripple's expanding network and actual demand for XRP itself. A string of partnership announcements this week has widened the ledger's reach, yet several of them name the stablecoin RLUSD — not XRP — as the payment or settlement instrument.
A Security Fix Still Waiting on Validators
On the technical side, activation of the fixCleanup3_4_0 amendment is slated for October 23, pending validator support above the required threshold. The change is designed to correct a permissions bug in PaymentBurn. The date is not a commitment to activation — the threshold condition still has to be met.
That follows the October 9 disclosure by RippleX and the XRP Ledger Foundation of a vulnerability in the payments engine that, under certain conditions, could have allowed unauthorized token creation. It was patched in software version xrpld 3.4.1, and the investigation turned up no evidence of exploitation on public networks. For investors, the takeaway is network reliability; a bug fix on its own generates no additional demand for XRP, and the planned amendment shouldn't be treated as a completed improvement just yet.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying XRP?
Banks Build on RLUSD, Not XRP
Cross River Bank said Thursday it will integrate Ripple's RLUSD into its core banking system, with transactions routed over the XRP Ledger and access through a single API. RLUSD is the instrument named in the announcement.
Ripple's collaboration with DriveWealth, announced Wednesday, likewise concerns RLUSD settlement infrastructure on the XRP Ledger, starting in Europe with a US expansion planned. XRP is not cited as the settlement asset. The same day brought a partnership with Privy, which does reference the token directly: programmable wallets for developers are to support XRP, RLUSD and other ledger assets, alongside payment flows for AI agents. Support, however, is not the same as measured usage.
Ripple also reported Thursday the launch of institutional access to perpetual derivatives on real-world assets through Ripple Prime, spanning more than 100 reference markets and accepting RLUSD as collateral. Ripple calls XRP and RLUSD the foundation of its broader services, but it did not say the derivatives require XRP — so no mandatory incremental token demand follows from the product launch.
Fund Flows Tell a Different Story
More direct evidence of investor appetite comes from the US spot XRP ETFs. Net inflows of $11.31 million in the week ended October 9 stretched the weekly inflow streak to 13 weeks. The most recent reading cuts the other way: $2.4734 million in net outflows on Friday, attributed entirely to Canary's XRPC fund, concentrating the withdrawal in a single product rather than spreading it across the group.
XRP at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
Network activity offers a third, murkier signal. Payment volume on the XRP Ledger fell 72.3% yesterday to 119.5 million XRP. A single weak session — particularly over a weekend — says little about a lasting decline, and payment volume measures network activity, not investor selling. It is not, by itself, enough to explain the day's price action.
Fund flows, wallet support and RLUSD partnerships each document something different: capital movement, potential use cases and infrastructure. None of them is equivalent to XRP demand. The question that matters is whether a given application actually puts the token to work.
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