Massive XRP Transfers Surface Amid Institutional Shifts and Revised Price Targets

On Tuesday, February 17, 2026, the Ripple network recorded a significant whale movement as 81 million XRP, valued at approximately $117 million, was transferred between two unidentified digital wallets. Ripple analyst Bull Winkle, who initially reported the transaction, suggested that a move of this magnitude between anonymous addresses—bypassing centralized exchanges—points toward deliberate strategic positioning rather than a routine liquidation. This activity occurred during a period of notable price fluctuations for XRP, which was trading in the $1.40 to $1.43 range by February 19, 2026, marking a substantial retreat from its 2025 high of over $3.

Market sentiment has faced headwinds recently, especially after Standard Chartered revised its year-end price projection for XRP. The financial institution lowered its 2026 target from $8 to $2.80, a drastic 65% reduction that reflects broader macroeconomic pressures. This adjustment follows a wider cryptocurrency market contraction in February that erased nearly $2 trillion in total market capitalization since October. However, Standard Chartered remains optimistic about the asset's long-term trajectory, maintaining a price forecast of $28 by the year 2030, signaling continued confidence in the network's fundamental utility over the next decade.

Beyond the immediate price action, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) ecosystem is aggressively expanding its institutional-grade infrastructure. The recent activation of the XLS-81 amendment introduced the 'Permissioned DEX,' a decentralized exchange model that allows regulated entities to trade within environments that satisfy rigorous KYC and AML compliance standards. This development, which builds upon the 'Permissioned Domains' framework, is tailored for banks and brokerage firms looking to tap into on-chain liquidity without the regulatory uncertainty of fully public DeFi protocols. Additionally, the launch of the XLS-85 'Token Escrow' feature has broadened the scope of conditional asset locking, making it available for various tokenized assets and stablecoins in addition to XRP.

Despite the recent price correction, institutional interest in XRP remains robust. Grayscale advisors have noted a consistent volume of inquiries from clients, with XRP often being the second most discussed asset after Bitcoin. The utility of the network is further highlighted by the performance of Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, which has surpassed a market capitalization of $1.5 billion. While February has traditionally been a challenging month for the asset, the landscape in 2026 is bolstered by new growth drivers, including cumulative inflows into spot XRP ETFs exceeding $1.3 billion since their launch in late 2025, as well as the finality brought by the conclusion of the SEC litigation.