In February 2026, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty was invited to participate in the White House's third high-level stablecoin meeting, where he joined representatives from the crypto industry such as Coinbase and a16z in key negotiations over the "Clear Act." The core dispute centered on whether stablecoin issuers could pass on interest generated from reserve assets to users as earnings. Traditional banking sectors strongly opposed this, arguing it would lead to a large-scale outflow of bank deposits and weaken banks' lending capacity. After multiple rounds of negotiations, a breakthrough occurred, with both sides leaning toward allowing a yield model linked to trading activity rather than paying interest on idle balances. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse optimistically predicted that there is an 80% to 90% chance the "Clear Act" will pass before the end of April. In mid-February, Standard Chartered significantly lowered its year-end target price for XRP from $8 to $2.8, a reduction of up to 65%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin's target price was cut from $150,000 to $100,000, Ethereum from $7,000 to $4,000, and Solana from $250 to $135. On the technical side, XRP is currently near a nine-year ascending support trendline extending from 2014, with this support level now around $1.40. Historical data shows that in 2017 and 2021, XRP experienced epic rallies after touching this long-term support line. On the daily chart, XRP attempted to break through the upper boundary of a descending channel in mid-February but was rejected at around $1.61, and the current price has fallen back to the $1.42 to $1.45 range. Ripple's fundamentals are also improving, with the stablecoin RLUSD ecosystem expanding. Soil Protocol launched its first RWA yield protocol on the XRP Ledger, raising the initial $1 million fund pool within 72 hours. Ripple announced its 2026 roadmap, with the first quarter set to introduce native lending functions and confidential transfer systems, and the second quarter to launch a permissioned DEX. These upgrades aim to meet compliance needs of institutional investors, enabling regulated financial institutions under KYC and AML to trade, lend, and transfer assets on the XRP Ledger. The tokenized real-world asset value on the XRP Ledger has already surpassed that of the Solana network. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently stated that banks are Ripple’s clients, not acquisition targets, positioning Ripple as a bridge connecting traditional finance with decentralized finance. Overall, XRP is at a critical juncture driven by both regulatory breakthroughs and technological upgrades. Short-term movements depend on the stability of the $1.40 support level and the legislative progress of the "Clear Act," while long-term value hinges on the actual adoption by institutions.