XRP Price Explodes: SEC Clears Path, Ripple CTO Quits

Ripple CTO Exit: Longtime Ripple CTO David Schwartz announced he will step down by year-end and move to an advisory role ^[1]. The news briefly pushed XRP up about 3%, testing the $3.00 level ^[2] ^[3]. Ripple President Monica Long praised Schwartz’s impact, saying “This mighty community wouldn’t exist without you” ^[4], and the community reaction remained optimistic ^[5].
SEC Custody Clearance: On Sept. 30, the U.S. SEC’s Division of Investment Management issued a landmark no-action letter clarifying that registered advisers and brokers can treat qualified crypto custodians (state trust companies) as “banks” for holding digital assets ^[6]. In effect, major custodians like Coinbase and BitGo are authorized to hold XRP for clients ^[7] ^[8], removing a key institutional barrier.
SWIFT Partnership: Ripple partner Thunes plugged its Pay-to-Banks service into the SWIFT network on Sept. 29, connecting XRP liquidity to some 11,000 global banks ^[9] ^[10]. In practical terms, XRP can now flow through the traditional banking rails via SWIFT, as summarized by the crypto community: “Money runs on connectivity” ^[11] ^[12].
ETF Countdown: Seven U.S. spot XRP ETF applications (from issuers like Grayscale, Bitwise, WisdomTree, etc.) are pending SEC review. Decision deadlines run from Oct. 18 (Grayscale) into November ^[13] ^[14]. Experts note SEC approval odds are very high – Bloomberg analysts put it around 95% ^[15] (prediction markets ~80–88% ^[16]). Traders expect large capital inflows if ETFs launch.
Price & Technicals: As of Oct. 1, XRP was trading near $2.85–$2.94. Crypto.news noted XRP “held steady” around $2.85 ^[17], within a recent $2.71–$2.98 range. Technical analysts point to ~$3.00 as a key resistance and ~$2.80 as critical support ^[18] ^[19]. CoinDesk reports XRP’s one-week range was $2.71–$2.98, with $2.92–2.93 as near-term resistance and $2.85–2.86 as support ^[20] ^[21].
Institutional Activity: Major investors have been accumulating XRP. CoinDesk cites on-chain data showing 120 million XRP moved into “whale” wallets over 72 hours ^[22]. Meanwhile, CME Group’s new XRP futures have hit $1 billion open interest in just three months, indicating strong institutional adoption ^[23].
Ecosystem Updates – RLUSD & Africa: Ripple’s USD stablecoin RLUSD is seeing broad adoption. Securitize announced it enabled RLUSD on its platform for use in BlackRock’s BUIDL and VanEck’s VBILL tokenized funds ^[24]. Major exchanges (Uphold, Bitso, MoonPay, Kraken, Gemini, Bybit) are listing RLUSD trading pairs ^[25]. On Oct. 1, Ripple announced RLUSD’s official rollout in Africa via partners Chipper Cash, VALR and Yellow Card – enabling cheaper remittances and payments continent-wide ^[26] ^[27].
Other Partnerships: In Japan, SBI Ripple Asia (Ripple’s joint venture) and travel firm Tobu Top Tours signed an MoU to build an XRPL-based tourism payment platform using custom tokens and NFTs by 2026 ^[28]. (This project aims to boost cashless travel via XRP Ledger tokens and NFT souvenirs.)
Analyst Forecasts: Several crypto analysts remain bullish. Notable commentator Kenny Nguyen projected post-ETF prices in the “high double-digit range,” specifically $22–$50 per XRP ^[29]. Canary Capital’s Steven McClurg estimates a $5 billion first-month ETF inflow could imply an XRP price near $26 ^[30]. These models assume ETFs draw inflows like Bitcoin’s, lifting XRP’s market cap into the trillions. Even more conservatively, Bloomberg ETF analysts model large inaugural flows ($4–8 b) could support five-figure initial prices.

Legal & Regulatory: The SEC’s no-action letter (Sept. 30, 2025) clears the way for institutional custody of XRP ^[31] ^[32]. This came in a package of rulings on crypto custody released by the SEC’s investment-management division. In practice, qualified crypto custodians (licensed “state trust” banks) can be used just like traditional banks to hold client crypto assets ^[33]. Crypto.news notes that with custodians like Coinbase and BitGo authorized to store XRP ^[34], a major legal uncertainty for institutional investors is resolved.

Meanwhile, the residual Ripple v. SEC litigation risk ended in August 2025 (the two parties agreed to dismiss appeals ^[35]). The SEC had sued Ripple in 2020 over XRP sales, but that case is now closed. Looking forward, attention is on SEC ETF rulings: seven spot XRP ETF filings await decision (Grayscale’s by Oct. 18, followed by others in November) ^[36] ^[37]. CryptoPotato reports that SEC staff have even asked ETF issuers to withdraw certain filings (Form 19b-4) now that Generic Listing Standards exist ^[38], indicating the SEC is preparing for these ETFs to launch smoothly.

Price & Technical Analysis: XRP has been consolidating in the low-$3 range. Crypto.news reports XRP at $2.85 (1.5% down) on Oct. 1 after Schwartz’s announcement ^[39], while CryptoSlate noted a brief 3% gain into the $2.94 area ^[40]. Overall, XRP has held above roughly $2.71 in the last week ^[41]. Short-term trendlines: CoinDesk identifies resistance around $2.92–2.93 and support around $2.85–2.86 ^[42] ^[43], with the $2.90 “pivot” level crucial for the next move. Technical indicators are mostly neutral (stochastic and RSI mid-range) ^[44]. An on-chain snapshot shows traders pulling back from leveraged bets: futures open interest is easing, while spot volumes remain robust ^[45]. Notably, CryptoSlate and Crypto.news both emphasize that Schwartz’s exit did not spook the market: prices held in range, and many traders are still “upbeat” ^[46] ^[47].

Ecosystem & Partnerships: Ripple’s products are gaining new footholds. The RLUSD stablecoin (pegged 1:1 USD) is a standout story. Blockworks reports that Securitize has integrated RLUSD into tokenized Treasury funds (BlackRock’s BUIDL and VanEck’s VBILL) ^[48]. CryptoPotato notes RLUSD has also been adopted by top exchanges (Kraken, Gemini, Bitso, etc.) ^[49]. On Oct. 1, Ripple unveiled that RLUSD will be launched in Africa in partnership with Chipper Cash, VALR and Yellow Card ^[50] ^[51] – targeting Africa’s huge remittance market with faster, cheaper USD transfers.

Another notable partnership: Ripple’s Japanese JV (SBI Ripple Asia) signed an MoU with Tobu Top Tours to create an XRP Ledger-based tourism payment system ^[52]. The project envisions issuing local tokens and NFTs (e.g. souvenir tokens) to streamline travel payments by 2026. Overall, these updates show Ripple expanding beyond core payments into stablecoins and blockchain-enabled travel.

On the institutional front, the CME Group launched standard XRP futures this year. CoinDesk reports that open interest in XRP futures has already surpassed $1 billion after just three months ^[53]. This institutional activity, along with the custody approval, points to growing mainstream interest in XRP.

Commentary & Sentiment: Crypto insiders and analysts have been active. Influencer Kenny Nguyen’s bold forecast grabbed headlines: he said XRP “should be between $22 and $50” after the first wave of spot ETFs ^[54]. CryptoCentral summarizes his call as implying a 6–16× rally once regulated ETFs launch. Canary Capital’s Steven McClurg supports this view; he estimates $5 b of first-month ETF flows could translate to roughly $26 per XRP ^[55]. Others note that XRP has no staking yield (unlike ETH), so all ETF inflows would directly lift price. Meanwhile, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas quipped that the SEC’s move (asking issuers to withdraw filings) “makes sense as you don’t need 19b-4s in the post-GLS world” ^[56], suggesting insiders expected the regulatory shuffle.

Community reactions were mixed but mostly positive. Social-media trackers like Crypto.news report that aside from short-term sell-the-news dips, “most community responses remained optimistic” ^[57]. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse jokingly said Schwartz’s new board seat made him “the boss now” ^[58]. In general, experts are upbeat about XRP’s outlook if catalysts align. For example, one model on Yahoo Finance projected that multiple ETF approvals could send XRP 50–150% higher (to ~$4–7) by October ^[59]. InvestingHaven notes that a hold above ~$3.00 could trigger a rally, whereas a break below ~$2.80 might test $2.70–2.75 next ^[60] ^[61].

Outlook: With the SEC clearing custody rules and ETFs looming, many analysts see this fall as pivotal for XRP. Watcher Guru and CoinCentral highlight that regulatory clarity plus the SWIFT partnership have raised new price targets (some analysts have bumped forecasts to ~$5 or higher) ^[62] ^[63]. Bulletproof Crypto analysts have even speculated on 10×+ moves under a very bullish scenario. That said, XRP still trades far below its 2018 high (~$3.84), and setbacks are possible if the market pulls back. For now, readers should watch two things: the SEC’s decisions in mid-October and XRP’s ability to hold above the $2.80–$2.90 support zone.

Sources: Authoritative crypto press and official releases ^[64] ^[65] ^[66] ^[67] ^[68] ^[69] (see links). These include CoinDesk, CryptoSlate, Crypto.news, and Ripple’s own blog, among others. All quotes and data are from the cited articles.