The year 2026 is turning out to be a promising and exciting one, especially for Ripple, as the leading payment firm continues to carry out strategic moves to bolster operations in the crypto and financial sectors. One of the most recent moves making waves in the space is the investment to support LMAX and strengthen market infrastructure.

LMAX Gains Major Boost With Ripple Investment

A recent report discloses that Ripple has taken yet another significant step in its institutional expansion by investing to support LMAX’s worldwide business strategy. With the aim of reinforcing its commitment to building a robust, enterprise-grade market infrastructure, the firm has invested over $150 million to support this strategy.

Ripple’s move underscores its focus on strengthening the railroads that link digital assets with traditional finance, expanding access to regulated trading platforms, and deepening liquidity. Such a move marks the persistent efforts of the company in transforming global trading models.

According to market expert and trader Pumpius on X, this is a far bigger move than a simple strategic investment from the payment firm. Instead, it is a strategic integration move aimed at hardwiring the adjacency of XRP to institutional price discovery and execution infrastructure.

The expert highlighted that LMAX operates high-performance, low-latency venues for FX, metals, and digital assets, which are being used by banks, funds, and professional liquidity providers. This creates a period where size is traded under stringent regulatory standards, and risk is controlled.

By supporting LMAX’s global expansion, Pumpius stated that Ripple is making sure XRP is positioned within venues that institutions already trust for hedging funds, market making, and balance sheet management. This seems to be a better move in comparison to relying on fragmented retail liquidity.

Interestingly, this bolsters Ripple’s end-to-end stack across settlement, liquidity provisioning, custody, and execution. While it may seem complex, this is vital since tokenized deposits, compliant stablecoins, and on-chain settlement are shifting into production.

However, Pumpius added that the outcome is deeper liquidity, tighter spreads, and routine XRP usage within regulated market infrastructure, long before the wider market notices the underlying shift.

XRP Charting Path To New All-Time High?

XRP is regaining bullish traction as market structure points to a historical trend that preceded a massive wave up to previous highs. From a weekly timeframe chart shared by ChartNerd, XRP is forming a pivotal Golden Cross pattern, which could shape its next trajectory.

It is worth noting that the last time this pattern appeared on the weekly Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), the altcoin rallied to new all-time highs. With the same structure unfolding, a similar price trend is expected to occur.

Currently, the MACD is in oversold territory, and the Golden Cross formation is expected to form in the upcoming weeks. Given that the market structure is protecting a 400-day defense zone, expansion seems likely.

A crypto analyst has announced that the XRP price has just entered a neutral state and could be gearing up for a major rally. He explains how this phase has historically appeared before strong rallies and outlines what the current market structure may signal for XRP moving forward. 

XRP Price Enters Neutral State Before Bull Rally

Crypto expert and data analyst CW recently shared a fresh update on XRP’s price action, noting that the cryptocurrency has broken out from its bottom and moved into a neutral state. He said this shift marks the early stage of a larger bull rally, with a decisive move above the previous all-time high acting as the key signal for price acceleration. 

The chart he shared shows XRP following a repeated four-phase pattern across multiple market cycles, first from 2014 to 2018 and again from 2017 to date. In the 2014 cycle, Phase 1 began with a sharp breakout to TP1, setting a new ATH. From that peak, XRP entered Phase 2, which formed a Symmetrical Triangle. During this phase, XRP moved sideways within a tightening range for several months. 

Phase 3 came next, marking a long consolidation period for XRP. Eventually, XRP’s price broke the upper boundary of the symmetrical triangle and entered Phase 4. In this final phase, XRP surged to TP2, reaching a second ATH at the 6.618 Fibonacci extension level. 

According to the chart, XRP has already completed Phases 1-3 in the current cycle and has entered Phase 4. After hitting its first peak around $3.5 (TP1) earlier in 2025, the cryptocurrency recently broke above the upper boundary of a similar Symmetrical Triangle pattern, entering a “neutral state.”

Now that XRP has reached this state, CW noted that it has entered Phase 4, the final stage of the four-phase historical pattern. The analyst has projected a second new all-time high for XRP near $21.5, aligning with the 6.618 Fibonacci extension level from the 2014 cycle.

How Momentum Indicators Reacted During Each Phase

At the bottom of CW’s price chart is a Stochastic Oscillator and a Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) histogram. The stochastic shows overbought and oversold conditions for each cycle. 

In Phase 2 of each cycle, the stochastic frequently hits oversold levels, which align with the extended consolidation and price decline observed in that period. During Phase 3, it stays around the middle range, reflecting a neutral state. Finally, in Phase 4 of the 2014 cycle, it spikes toward overbought levels, coinciding with strong price breakouts. 

Meanwhile, the MACD histogram mirrors momentum shifts in each phase. During Phase 1, the histogram shows strong positive bars during the initial breakout. Phase 2 saw negative bars as the price declined, signaling bearish momentum. After this, Phase 3 showed small, fluctuating bars, indicating low momentum. Lastly, in Phase 4, the histogram rapidly expands on the breakout, pushing its price to new ATHs in 2014.