XRP’s $3.5 Breakout: Paving the Way for Ripple’s RLUSD Stablecoin

Title: XRP’s $3.50 Breakout: Paving the Way for Ripple’s RLUSD Stablecoin

Introduction After more than seven years, XRP has decisively cleared its January 2018 peak, rallying over 40% in just one week to breach the $3.50 mark. This milestone reflects a confluence of factors—from landmark U.S. legislation to Ripple’s own innovations on the XRPL. Below, we unpack how regulatory clarity, a new stablecoin, and major protocol upgrades are transforming XRP into a next-generation DeFi liquidity hub—and what technical indicators suggest for its near-term trajectory.

1. Regulatory Clarity Unlocks Institutional Demand On July 18, 2025, President Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law, cementing the first federal 1:1 stablecoin framework and banning interest payments on reserves. That same day, the House had approved two companion bills: the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. Together, these measures provide the clear guardrails institutions craved. Since the votes, XRP perpetual futures open interest has topped $10 billion and trading volumes surged 140%—a testament to renewed institutional confidence.

2. RLUSD Stablecoin: Strengthening XRPL Liquidity With federal rules in hand, Ripple launched its dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD on December 17, 2024. Backed by bank deposits, short-term Treasuries, and monthly audits—with BNY Mellon serving as custodian—RLUSD adds a trust anchor for cross-border payments on the XRPL. Every RLUSD transaction burns a small XRP fee, driving sustained deflationary demand in the network.

3. XRPL Upgrades: AMM and Hooks In March 2024, the XRPL’s native AMM feature (XLS-30) went live, enabling on-ledger liquidity pools with instant settlement. Liquidity fragmentation has already fallen, and new RLUSD–XRP pools are thriving. Looking ahead, the Hooks smart-contract layer will let developers embed custom code directly into payments and token transfers—unlocking lending, escrows, and more without sidechains. These upgrades cement the XRPL as a low-fee, high-throughput DeFi hub.

4. Technical Analysis: Targets and Trade Signals Now that resistance around $3.60–$3.65 has flipped to support, Fibonacci extensions point to key levels at $4.20 (50%), $4.41 (61.8%), $5.09 (100%), and $6.19 (161.8%). Perpetual funding rates near 11% show longs are paying up for leverage, while a 14-day ATR of 2.54 (~87% of price) signals expanded trading ranges. Traders should watch for a retest of $3.60 as new support and guard against stochastic-RSI overbought readings, which historically preceded 25–45% pullbacks in early 2025.

5. Ongoing Legal Headwinds Despite federal stablecoin legislation, full capital requirements and auditing standards may take years to finalize. Ripple still awaits a final SEC lawsuit verdict: one court has ruled XRP non-security for retail trades but left institutional sales unresolved. Meanwhile, Ripple’s bid for a national trust charter and Fed master account remains pending.

Conclusion XRP’s surge past $3.50 is more than a technical breakout—it underscores a broader ecosystem rollout: U.S. regulatory clarity, the RLUSD launch, and the XRPL’s DeFi upgrades. While price targets extend toward $5.00–$6.00, investors should monitor implementation timelines and legal outcomes. If Ripple continues executing on its stablecoin and smart-contract roadmap, XRP could reclaim its role as the liquidity backbone of global decentralized finance.