XRP Price Rally Pauses, But Wall Street Eyes 2026 Explosion – Here’s Why

XRP's recent surge hits a speed bump—but don't mistake a pause for a stop. Wall Street's gaze is locked on 2026, and the reason has less to do with moonshots and more to do with cold, hard infrastructure.

The Institutional Pipeline Fills

Forget the retail frenzy. The real story is unfolding in boardrooms and compliance departments. Major financial institutions, tired of legacy settlement systems that move at the speed of bureaucracy, are finally building the on-ramps. They're not betting on memes; they're betting on a protocol that can actually settle cross-border payments in seconds for fractions of a cent. The regulatory clarity that once seemed like a curse is now its bedrock advantage.

Liquidity Begets Liquidity

It's a classic network effect play. Every new institutional corridor that comes online doesn't just add volume—it enhances the utility for every other participant. This creates a flywheel Wall Street understands intimately: utility drives adoption, adoption drives liquidity, and liquidity attracts more capital. It's the opposite of a speculative bubble; it's a utility foundation being poured.

The 2026 Horizon

Why 2026? That's the horizon where pilot programs mature into production-scale pipelines. It's when the 'testing' phase ends and the real volume begins. Analysts aren't charting parabolic hype cycles; they're modeling transaction flow growth from actual use cases. The price appreciation they foresee is a side effect of the network becoming indispensable—a value capture that's hard to undo.

Of course, this all assumes traditional finance remembers how to innovate faster than a committee can form to discuss the risks. The pause today is just Wall Street catching its breath before trying to monetize the very efficiency it's spent decades avoiding.

TLDR

• XRP price rose 31% from $1.84 to $2.41 in the first week of January 2026 before pulling back to $2.14
• Ripple coin experienced its largest liquidation event in 30 days with $22 million in long liquidations on Tuesday
• Whale transactions on the XRP Ledger surged to a three-month high of 2,802 transfers worth over $100,000 each
• XRP spot flows remained negative despite bullish price action, with exchange balances dropping by more than 50% to 1.6 billion tokens
• Wall Street analysts highlight XRP as a top coin for 2026 due to resolved legal issues and less crowded investor positioning compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum

XRP began 2026 with a strong performance in the first week of January. The cryptocurrency rallied 31% from its opening price of $1.84 on January 1 to reach a local high of $2.41 on Tuesday.

The price has since retreated to the $2.2 range. At press time, XRP was trading at $2.14, down 5% over the past 24 hours.

The token remains up 17% over the last seven days and 3.6% over the past month. XRP is still about 41% below its July peak of $3.65.

Trading volumes have declined following the recent price movements. XRP’s 24-hour volume fell 34% to $4.29 billion.

Liquidation Events Mark First Week of 2026

The cryptocurrency experienced its biggest liquidation event in the last four weeks. CoinGlass data showed XRP had over $22 million in long liquidations on Tuesday.

This marks the highest daily long liquidation figure observed since late November. The asset also recorded $24 million worth of short liquidations on Monday.

A CryptoQuant analysis revealed that most of the liquidations occurred on Binance. These two days marked the first major liquidation events of 2026.

XRP open interest increased from $3.3 billion on January 1 to $4.55 billion as of January 6. Derivatives volume dropped 39% to $7.38 billion, while open interest declined 6% to $4.15 billion.

When both metrics fall together, it typically indicates traders are closing positions rather than opening new ones.

Whale Activity Reaches Three-Month High

Data from Santiment showed that whale transactions on the XRP Ledger jumped to 2,802 in a single day. This represents the highest level in three months.

XRP Ledger has seen a major increase in whale transactions (moved valued at $100K or more on the network). Monday saw 2,170 of them, and yesterday shot all the way up to 2,802 (a 3-month high).

Volatility should be higher than usual. Follow along: https://t.co/6vgr6o1T6F pic.twitter.com/sgSIeLhzvu

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) January 7, 2026

These transfers are worth $100,000 or more. Around 83% of XRP holders are currently in profit.

On January 5, Ripple transferred 300 million XRP, worth about $652 million, from a company-linked wallet to an unknown address. The move fits Ripple’s regular escrow process, where 1 billion XRP is unlocked each month.

Exchange data shows the amount of XRP held on exchanges has fallen by more than 50% in recent months to around 1.6 billion tokens. Lower exchange balances can reduce immediate selling pressure.

Technical Levels and Support Zones

From a technical perspective, XRP is consolidating after breaking higher. The price recently moved above the $2.10 to $2.15 zone.

$XRP Just Flashed a Signal That Only Appears Before Big Moves pic.twitter.com/Fqarfxu6zP

— STEPH IS crypto (@Steph_iscrypto) January 8, 2026

That area is now acting as near-term support. XRP has reclaimed its short-term moving average NEAR $1.96.

The price has pushed above the middle Bollinger Band at $2.05. XRP is currently testing the upper band at $2.26.

The relative strength index has climbed to 59, showing stronger momentum. A higher low has formed near $1.88 to $1.90.

As long as XRP holds above $1.96 on a daily close, the setup remains constructive. A clean move above $2.26 WOULD put $2.40 to $2.50 back into focus.

Wall Street Interest in XRP

A recent CNBC analysis highlighted three reasons for potential institutional interest in XRP. The legal hurdles that previously held back XRP no longer exist.

The analysis noted that XRP was far less crowded by investors than Bitcoin and Ethereum. This highlights more sensitivity to demand.

Ripple has been positioning itself as key infrastructure for cross-border payments and the future of banking. XRP ETFs maintained overall positive flows, indicating that institutional investors are building their positions.