For years, the narrative surrounding Ripple [XRP] was trapped in a cycle of courtroom drama and regulatory uncertainty.
But as we move through 2026, the fog has officially lifted.
In a recent stream, Chris Regan, co-founder of Cheeky Crypto, analyzed why Canary Capital is betting on XRP.
He started the stream with a bang, stating,
“While many blockchain networks remain in the experimental stage, the XRP ledger is processing real financial transactions, real world financial use cases, not speculative applications, and are drawing institutions attention.”
Canary CEO bets on XRP
Regan highlighted how Steven McClurg, CEO of Canary Capital, a long-time Bitcoin [BTC]-focused asset manager, has now turned his attention to XRP’s real-world use.
Simply put, the reason behind this shift is that traditional systems like SWIFT take 3 to 5 days to settle transactions and come with high costs.
Whereas, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) settles transactions in 3 to 5 seconds, with almost negligible fees.
Now, as Canary Capital moves forward with filings for regulated Ripple investment products, the debate has changed.
The question is no longer whether assets will be tokenized, but which blockchain will become the main system moving trillions of dollars globally.
Remarking on the same, McClurg had once said,
“We see XRP as the essential financial plumbing for the next century of finance.”
He added,
“It is the first asset that we’ve seen that actually solves a multi-trillion dollar liquidity problem in real time.”
Decoupling from Bitcoin
That said, for years, XRP’s price moved largely in line with Bitcoin.
In early 2026, that link is starting to weaken.
As the XRPL handles more real-world assets, its value is increasingly tied to actual usage, not just market sentiment.
Additionally, RLUSD has also reached a market value of $1.3 billion within its first year and is now being used to move large amounts of money efficiently.
Thus, as more tokenized bonds, real estate, and other assets move onto the XRPL, the need for XRP as the network’s transaction fuel and bridge currency becomes practical, not speculative.
Adding to which Regan said,
“The secret source of the XRP ledger is not its speed. It’s the lack of smart contract risk.”
The $5 price path
Moving forward, speaking on XRP’s price trajectory, Regan noted that a $5 target once seemed unrealistic, but that view has changed.
Analysts at Standard Chartered are now projecting prices as high as $8, based on the liquidity required to settle even a small share of the global bond market.
He said,
“For years, the XRP price has been a victim of sentiment-driven volatility. But the transition to a utility driven market changes the math entirely.”
This comes as XRP traded at $1.92, down 2.44% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap, largely driven by the fallout from Trump’s tariff shock.
What’s ahead?
Yet, despite the short-term weakness, AMBCrypto’s analysis suggested the broader setup remained constructive.
XRP was holding a key demand zone between $1.96 and $2.00 that has acted as strong support since December 2024, even as the weekly chart showed bearish signals like declining volume and momentum.
Recent liquidations may have cleared weaker positions, improving the chances of a short-term bottom.
Final Thoughts
- Canary Capital’s move is a strong signal that professional investors are now focusing on infrastructure, not speculation.
- Price expectations are becoming more data-driven, with analysts now modeling higher targets based on liquidity needs, not hype.
