XRP Near $3 After SBI Lending; Legal Overhang Lifted

XRP has traded in a tight roughly $2.98–$3.10 range this week, with resistance near $3.07–$3.10 and support around $2.98–$3.00, after Japan’s SBI launched an institutional XRP lending program that drove heavy institutional volume. On-chain flows show accumulation into cold wallets and rising futures open interest, but a widely reported 18.7 million XRP transfer that briefly spooked markets was later identified as an internal Ripple wallet movement rather than a whale sell-off. Market attention remains on seven pending U.S. spot XRP ETF filings with the SEC’s first decisions due Oct. 18, and some firms are forecasting large potential ETF inflows. Ripple CTO David Schwartz has transitioned roles, and the dismissal of appeals in the Ripple–SEC case in August 2025 removed a significant legal overhang. Analysts say XRP’s near-term trajectory will increasingly depend on fundamentals and adoption as institutional use and possible ETF inflows shape demand.