XRP price is struggling, even as Ripple makes progress through new partnerships, financial services, and regulatory approvals.
Versan Aljarrah, founder of Black Swan Capitalist, recently highlighted this disconnect. He noted that XRP was trading around $1.30, about 65% below its July 2025 high of $3.65.
Meanwhile, amid the harrowing price drop, Ripple has been expanding its business and attracting major financial institutions.
In a post on X, Aljarrah said, “The price and the progress are moving in opposite directions. That doesn’t happen forever.”
His point is that Ripple is making progress, but XRP’s price has not reflected that growth. However, he believes the price and fundamental progress will ultimately align.
Ripple Is Making Progress
Indeed, several major developments have strengthened Ripple’s position in the financial industry.
- Bank approval: On October 26, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) gave final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank. The bank will help manage the reserves backing Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin and provide digital asset custody services.
- Coinbase partnership: Coinbase added RLUSD to Coinbase Prime, Coinbase Exchange, and its retail app, allowing customers to trade and manage the stablecoin.
- Robinhood partnership: Ripple announced an alliance with Robinhood to make RLUSD available on Robinhood Chain and Bitstamp, with plans for further expansion.
- BNY partnership: BNY expanded its relationship with Ripple to support XRP and RLUSD through its digital asset custody services. Both companies also plan to explore tokenized trade finance.
- DTCC tokenization: The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) launched a service that allows traditional financial assets to be represented digitally. However, there is no confirmation that this service uses the XRP Ledger.
These developments show that Ripple is expanding its presence in traditional finance, even if they do not directly benefit XRP.
Does Ripple Growth Actually Help XRP Price?
Aljarrah believes the market has not fully recognized the progress being made. However, he also admitted that positive developments cannot stop XRP from falling during a wider crypto market downturn.
He cautioned that these developments could take years to have a noticeable impact on XRP’s price. Investors using leverage could suffer losses while waiting for adoption to grow.
Other members of the XRP community have also questioned the connection between Ripple’s progress and XRP’s value. One user, Mr Swell, argued that if XRP’s price directly reflected its real-world usefulness, its historical performance should have shown a stronger connection.
His view is that Ripple becoming more successful does not necessarily mean XRP will become more valuable. For example, RLUSD can operate on multiple blockchains, which means its growing adoption does not automatically create more demand for XRP.
The problem is that if XRP is directly a reflection of current utility (which will make it worth thousands), its track record should tell the same story. Why hasn’t its price been an exact reflection of utility in the past?
— Mr Swell 🥃 (@589charles) November 4, 2026
Fred Martinez disagreed with this criticism and supported Aljarrah’s position. He argued that the market still treats XRP mainly as a speculative investment instead of recognizing its potential role in financial infrastructure.
He believes investors should focus on long-term developments, not daily price movements.
Will XRP Price Eventually Catch Up?
The big question is whether Ripple’s growing business will eventually translate into higher demand for XRP. Ripple is building relationships with major financial institutions and expanding its services in stablecoins, digital asset custody, and tokenization.
But not every Ripple partnership directly involves XRP. Some developments focus on RLUSD or other financial services, while others involve blockchain technology that is not necessarily connected to the XRP Ledger.
For XRP’s price to benefit significantly, these developments would need to create stronger demand for the token itself. Aljarrah believes that the market may eventually recognize the value of Ripple’s growing ecosystem. But that process could take years.