Ripple’s Mastercard and Stablecoin Pacts Bolster Institutional Credibility as XRP ETFs Surpass $1 Billion

Ripple joins Mastercard AI payments network and Open USD consortium. XRP at $1.14, weekly gain 8.73% after short squeeze. XRP ETFs surpass $1B AUM.

Ripple has rounded up a pair of heavyweight endorsements in quick succession, joining Mastercard’s fledgling AI-powered payments network and signing on as an integration partner for the Open USD stablecoin consortium. The moves burnish the company’s institutional credentials, yet the direct benefits for the XRP token remain indirect. XRP itself is trading around $1.14, down 1.47% on the day but still showing a weekly gain of 8.73% after a violent short squeeze earlier this month.

Mastercard’s Agent Pay for Machines network, unveiled for machine-initiated payments, includes Ripple among more than 30 launch partners. The XRP Ledger functions as a settlement layer within the architecture, though Mastercard continues to anchor the network on traditional card rails. Separately, Ripple joined Open USD on June 30, a consortium of over 140 firms that counts Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, BNY, Coinbase and Google among its backers. Open USD, which plans to launch in 2026 on Solana, Stellar, Base and Polygon — but not the XRP Ledger — charges no minting or redemption fees and passes through nearly all interest income to partners. Ripple retains its own stablecoin RLUSD alongside this initiative, hedging its bets on whichever dollar-pegged token gains traction.

The institutional momentum coincides with a historic milestone for XRP exchange-traded funds. The combined assets under management of US spot XRP ETFs crossed the $1 billion mark on Monday, fueled by eight straight weeks of net inflows. In the week ending July 5 alone, the funds absorbed $144.7 million, bringing cumulative inflows since launch to roughly $1.49 billion. Yet the streak was not unblemished: the first net outflow appeared on June 30, the last day of the quarter, signaling some profit-taking.

The recent price recovery stems primarily from a different catalyst. On July 3, a sharp upside breakout triggered the liquidation of $281 million in short positions, creating a classic short squeeze. A weaker-than-expected US jobs report added fuel, depressing the dollar and bond yields and steering liquidity back into crypto assets. Beneath the surface, on-chain data confirms the shift. Exchange outflows exceeded 228 million XRP tokens, a sign of reduced selling pressure. Daily active addresses jumped 72% in a two-week span, hitting a three-month high, while open interest in XRP futures slid to its lowest level since July 2025 — suggesting the market has shed leveraged positions.

Ripple’s own stablecoin is deepening its footprint on the XRP Ledger. RLUSD has accumulated $2.5 billion in cumulative trading volume, and as of June 30, half of the total RLUSD supply was circulating on the XRPL, surpassing Ethereum for the first time. Every RLUSD transaction on the ledger requires XRP to pay network fees. Direct settlement volume for the stablecoin — excluding exchange trading — hit $5.08 billion in May, a staggering 75-fold increase over 18 months. That cements XRP’s role as a bridge currency for a growing dollar-denominated ecosystem.

Regulatory clarity remains a stubborn headwind. The CLARITY Act, which would classify XRP as a commodity and establish a durable legal framework, missed its target deadline of July 4. The US Senate entered its summer recess on June 29 and will not reconvene until July 13, pushing any decisive vote into late July or early August.

On the charts, XRP faces a critical test at $1.20. The 200-week moving average has risen to $1.209, while the 20-week exponential moving average is descending toward $1.34, creating a narrowing wedge that traders are watching for a potential structural turning point. The current price of $1.14 sits roughly 4.7% below the 50-day moving average of $1.20, underscoring near-term weakness. Support is well-defined in the $1.02 to $1.06 zone, where roughly 830 million XRP changed hands — a level that has attracted strong buying interest. Despite a year-to-date loss of 39.25%, the token is only 12.65% above its 52-week low. The relative strength index at 51.9 points to a market in equilibrium, neither overbought nor oversold, as investors weigh institutional progress against technical ceilings and legislative delays.