XRP opened 2026 with strong bullish momentum, driven by a $48 million surge in spot ETF inflows on January 5 and 6.
Institutional buying powered a daily rally of more than 21%, allowing XRP to reclaim the critical $2 psychological level and set its sights on a breakout toward the $2.40 to $2.60 range.
As ETFs absorb more than 1% of the circulating supply, traders and analysts increasingly question whether XRP can sustain a push toward $3 or reach the long-anticipated $5 milestone during the first quarter.
Broader macro forces continue to reinforce this rally. After U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, Bitcoin surged back above $94,000 as investors sought decentralized assets to hedge against rising geopolitical risk.
At the same time, President Trump’s signals of a sweeping overhaul of Venezuela’s oil industry accelerated capital flows into digital assets. This shift toward a risk-on environment strengthened overall market confidence and amplified XRP’s ongoing technical breakout.
As institutions pour money into major cryptocurrencies, investors are turning to new crypto coins with real-world uses. Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER) stands out by combining Bitcoin’s security with modern scalability.
Many analysts now call Bitcoin Hyper the best crypto to buy now for strong returns in the next phase of the 2026 bull market.
Source – 99Bitcoins YouTube Channel
XRP has remained one of the most watched crypto assets in the first week of 2026. After years of sideways price action, charts reveal a clear multi-year pattern now approaching a critical turning point. Traders see the current bullish trend building on a large accumulation base.
On higher time frames, XRP first completed a complex ABC corrective drop and then stayed in a two-year accumulation phase from August 2022 to July 2024. This long consolidation created the momentum and liquidity needed for the 700% to 800% rally that reshaped XRP’s market in 2025.
Examining the Elliott Wave structure, the initial rally pulled back before resuming its upward trajectory. Analysts identify the cycle as a classic impulsive pattern.
Waves 1 and 2 formed the first breakout and confirmed it with a retest, while Wave 3 pushed price strongly above previous resistance. Wave 4, the current correction, emerged as bearish divergence appeared on the weekly chart, with price making higher highs while the RSI lagged.
XRP then formed a triangle consolidation and found strong support near the 0.618 to 0.786 Fibonacci zone ($1.10 to $1.62), allowing momentum to reset from overbought to neutral or oversold conditions.
As of early January, the market setup supports the next leg higher. XRP remains above the $2 psychological level and has rebounded sharply from December lows, holding gains of 70% to 80%.
With the weekly RSI clearing its bearish divergence, technicals point upward. Historical oversold conditions, such as in July 2024, often preceded triple-digit rallies.
Based on the current wave structure, analysts expect XRP could rise about 300% from its recent low. This move would complete the “Grand Cycle” Wave 5 and potentially push XRP to new all-time highs as the broader crypto market enters its next growth phase in 2026.
The broader financial world is noticing XRP’s resurgence. CNBC recently reported that “the hottest crypto trade of 2026 is $XRP,” emphasizing that “there is big money behind this trade.”
Institutional investors are actively accumulating XRP, absorbing exchange supply, and positioning the token to lead the next leg of the market cycle.
Regulated investment products drive these recent gains. ETF clients purchased $19.12 million in XRP in the first week of January, according to Whale Insider, pushing total net assets in XRP ETFs to approximately $1.62 billion.
Investors show similar activity across the crypto sector, with recent inflows totaling $697 million into Bitcoin ETFs and $168 million into Ethereum ETFs. Analysts interpret this sustained growth as a strong bullish signal, reflecting clearer regulations and a shift toward long-term institutional participation.
Macroeconomic and policy developments are also shaping XRP’s value. Discussions around U.S. policy and tokenization initiatives suggest that digital assets could play a central role in future financial systems.
Speculators are increasingly exploring the tokenization of real-world assets, including energy commodities such as oil, on blockchain platforms.
XRP stands out because of its native focus on cross-border settlements. While claims that XRP will power global oil transactions remain unverified, its design positions the token as a frontrunner for institutional use in large-scale financial applications.
Traders expect XRP to maintain momentum as long as it holds key support during any short-term pullbacks.
While XRP dominates the payment narrative, the growing demand for Bitcoin-backed utility is positioning Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER) as the best crypto to buy now for those seeking next-generation infrastructure exposure.
Bitcoin Hyper is an emerging Layer 2 (L2) blockchain designed to scale Bitcoin by delivering high-speed transactions and low fees while preserving the base layer’s security. By integrating the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), Bitcoin Hyper brings full smart contract functionality to the Bitcoin ecosystem.
This enables a vibrant range of decentralized applications (dApps), including high-speed DeFi token swaps and lending markets, native staking and yield-bearing assets, and low-latency environments for gaming and NFTs.
The network ensures asset mobility through a decentralized canonical bridge, allowing users to lock BTC on the Bitcoin blockchain and mint an equivalent asset on the L2, giving them the freedom to use Bitcoin for DeFi while retaining the option to withdraw to the native chain.
Bitcoin Hyper’s native token, $HYPER, has a fixed total supply of 21 billion, mirroring Bitcoin’s scarcity model, and powers all on-chain transactions, secures the network through staking with a current 38% APY, and enables governance votes to guide the protocol’s future.
Popular crypto influencers, including Borch Crypto, believe $HYPER is the best crypto to buy now.
As of today, the project has raised around $30.2 million in its ongoing presale at a current token price of $0.013545, reflecting strong institutional and retail demand and signaling that major exchanges will likely prioritize $HYPER listings following its Token Generation Event (TGE).
Early adopters can purchase $HYPER directly on the Bitcoin Hyper website using ETH, USDT, BNB, or credit cards, and manage their tokens using Best Wallet, where $HYPER already appears in the “Upcoming Tokens” section for seamless tracking and post-launch claiming.
Visit Bitcoin Hyper
This article has been provided by one of our commercial partners and does not reflect Cryptonomist’s opinion. Please be aware our commercial partners may use affiliate programs to generate revenues through the links on this article.

