Ripple and XRP Weekly Wrap: Institutional Wins, Nasdaq Debut, and Price Struggles

The past week delivered a striking contrast for Ripple and its native cryptocurrency. It was a packed week for Ripple and XRP, with Evernorth making its long-anticipated Nasdaq debut after a major merger, Standard Chartered and Cross River expanding RLUSD access, and Ripple Prime pushing further into Wall Street. None of those developments helped the company’s native asset mark any gains – just the opposite. Wall Street and Ripple Expansion Standard Chartered announced on October 12 that it is launching institutional custody for Ripple’s stablecoin on the XRP Ledger through its DIFC branch in Dubai. The banking behemoth is also working with Ripple and LMAX Group on a planned arrangement that could eventually allow RLUSD to serve as collateral for selected institutional trading products. Evernorth Holdings began trading on Nasdaq under the XRPN ticker on the same day. Its stock opened at around $16.7, surged briefly to $19.40, before it dropped and closed at just under $17. The broader market’s correction, though, pushed it south at the end of the week, closing on Friday at $15.45. Evernorth entered the public markets with approximately 473 million XRP in its treasury and $300 milli...