Why XRP price jumped 25% in 2026 as ETF inflows top $1 billion

XRP is charging into 2026 with momentum.

The token’s price is up 25% in the first week of the year, outperforming most of the crypto market. At the same time investors have poured $1.3 billion into XRP exchange-traded funds.

Growing regulatory clarity in the US is one of the key factors driving XRP’s strong price action, according to Katherine Dowling, president of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company.

XRP “has the most to gain” from successful passage of the Clarity Act “which is looking likely,” Dowling told DL News.

Ripple, the firm behind XRP, “has notched a number of recent business successes and an additive fund raise plus the new XRP ETFs are assisting as well,” she said.

The strong tailwinds behind XRP comes amid a surge of institutional efforts to push deeper into digital assets. Leading asset managers including BlackRock, Fidelity, Vanguard, and Franklin Templeton have all launched crypto ETFs.

XRP ETFs have attracted $1.3 billion in investment since Canary Capital’s blockbuster launch in November, according data compiled by SoSoValue. There has not been a single day of net outflow since their debut, which is unmatched by any other crypto ETF.

That far outpaces comparable Solana ETFs, which have pulled in $420 million over the same period. In contrast, Bitcoin ETFs saw $2.4 billion in selling in the same period. Ethereum ETFs have also bled $898 million, according to data compiled by DefiLlama.

Dowling is far from the only one who sees ETFs driving more and more investment into XRP. A slew of analysts have told DL News in recent weeks that they see ETF proliferation as a key catalyst.

Ripple makes waves

Ripple has also made major moves in recent months.

In November, the firm tripled its valuation to $40 billion following a $500 million strategic funding round which included Citadel Securities, Fortress Investment Group, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace.

That same day, Ripple announced a partnership with Mastercard and Gemini to enable stablecoin payments for credit card transactions, a major corporate win that positions XRP deeper into financial rails.

“The XRP ETFs are directly benefiting from the successes Ripple has been able to notch,” Dowling said.

To be sure, the fourth-largest crypto is still down 37% from its all-time high of $3.65 set in July, trading at $2.24 at time of reporting.

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? lance@dlnews.com.