XRP rebounded from support at $1.32 as investors assessed a newly announced custody arrangement involving Standard Chartered, Ripple, and institutional trading firm LMAX Group. Announced Monday, the deal would allow LMAX customers to place Ripple USD (RLUSD) with Standard Chartered, adding bank custody capabilities to their stablecoin activities.

The development supports Ripple's institutional expansion, although XRP's technical outlook remains cautious and exchange-traded fund inflows tied to the token have slowed.

Standard Chartered Brings Bank Custody to RLUSD

The arrangement is designed to give institutional clients greater flexibility in safeguarding RLUSD and managing risk. Waqar Chaudry, Standard Chartered's Global Head of Digital Assets, said clients want access to digital asset markets while maintaining established standards for asset protection. He added that combining the bank's capabilities with those of Ripple and LMAX could help institutions incorporate digital assets into their broader financial activities.

The agreement concerns custody of RLUSD specifically; its implications for XRP depend on whether broader ecosystem adoption translates into demand for the token. RLUSD has grown to approximately $2.4 billion in market capitalization, according RWA.xyz figures.

Ripple has also pursued licenses in key jurisdictions to support payments and other financial services that use the stablecoin for settlement, and the Standard Chartered arrangement adds another institutional connection to that effort. Expanded RLUSD usage could support activity across the XRP Ledger, providing additional opportunities for payments and financial applications. Whether RLUSD's market capitalization continues to expand under these arrangements will be one measure of that strategy's traction.

However, stablecoin growth and XRP investment flows currently present different pictures.

XRP ETF Inflows Slow Sharply

SoSoValue data shows XRP-linked ETFs have received approximately $12 million in net inflows this month. If that pace continues, October inflows could finish below $30 million — roughly 75% lower than September's total. Net flows are widely watched as a gauge of institutional appetite for an asset, which is why the slowdown stands out against the ecosystem's custody progress.

That projection remains dependent on flows during the rest of the month, but the current figures suggest institutional investors have become more cautious during XRP's pullback. A stronger recovery would benefit from renewed buying interest alongside the ecosystem's custody and payments developments.

Price Outlook: $1.28 Holds the Key to Recovery

The latest bounce reinforces $1.32 as an important near-term support level, with analysts placing the 200-day exponential moving average near that area.

A further decline could bring $1.28 into focus. The analyst views that level as the final support underpinning the recovery scenario; a sustained break below it could expose a deeper move toward $1.

The Relative Strength Index has fallen to around 40, indicating weak momentum, though that reading alone does not confirm that selling pressure is exhausted or that a rebound is imminent.

Provided $1.28 holds, XRP maintains an upside target of $1.80 over the coming weeks, followed by $2.10 if buying momentum strengthens. Those levels remain conditional forecasts as XRP attempts to stabilize after its correction.

Source: CoinJournal