New York, February 19, 2026, 16:37 (EST) — After-hours
- XRP slipped roughly 1% to hover around $1.41, sticking to a narrow $1.39-$1.43 range during the last 24 hours
- Coinbase is now accepting XRP as collateral for USDC loans up to $100,000, joining DOGE, ADA, and LTC on the list.
- Friday’s PCE inflation numbers are up next, and traders are watching closely for a shift in rate-cut wagers.
XRP slipped about 1% to $1.41 on Thursday, as traders weighed a new bid to expand the token’s lending footprint against broader economic jitters. Over the past 24 hours, the price ranged from $1.39 to $1.43, with volume coming in around $2.38 billion, according to CoinGecko. 1
Crypto has turned into a rates trade once more, and the clock’s ticking ahead of Friday’s U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) numbers—the Fed’s inflation metric of choice. “Policymakers will need more clarity on inflation trends before cutting rates further,” Deutsche Bank economists led by Justin Weidner said, according to Investopedia. 2
Coinbase just threw XRP fans a bone, though the price barely flinched. On Feb. 18, the exchange made XRP—along with dogecoin, cardano, and litecoin—eligible as collateral for USDC loans up to $100,000, according to CryptoSlate. A Coinbase spokesperson told the publication that the decision came down to which tokens they could move onto Base and the Morpho protocol, plus the scale of customer holdings on the platform. 3
Investors looking to sidestep selling into a dip can tap crypto-backed loans, borrowing dollar-pegged stablecoins with their coins as collateral. Coinbase has rolled out the feature on its Base network, leaning on the Morpho on-chain lending protocol. The offering starts with loans up to 5,000,000 USDC against bitcoin, and up to $1,000,000 against ethereum. U.S. users can access the service, except those in New York. 4
Fresh institutional news hit the XRP Ledger: Societe Generale’s SG-FORGE announced on Feb. 18 that its EUR CoinVertible is now live on the XRP Ledger. Ripple’s custody solution backed the launch, and there’s potential to tap the stablecoin as trading collateral. “The successful launch of EUR CoinVertible on the XRP Ledger is a new step,” said SG-FORGE CEO Jean-Marc Stenger. Ripple’s Cassie Craddock weighed in, saying the company was “proud to have played a part” in the rollout. 5
XRP, the XRP Ledger’s in-house token, sits at the core of Ripple’s payments operations. It usually tracks shifts in risk appetite. Still, adjust the product—particularly around regulated finance or collateral—and the flows can pivot in a hurry.
The risks here are straightforward. Using volatile tokens as collateral means that when prices sink quickly, borrowers either have to add more collateral or face liquidation. In shaky, illiquid markets, that automatic selling pressure can easily intensify a rout.
Macro noise could easily swamp the crypto infrastructure here. Traders are eyeing Friday’s inflation report—if the figures beat forecasts, yields might stay high, keeping the heat on riskier bets. A softer print could take some pressure off, maybe let rallies breathe a little longer.
Friday morning brings the next major event. The Bureau of Economic Analysis will publish December 2025’s Personal Income and Outlays report at 8:30 a.m. EST, with the PCE price index included. 6
The immediate issue for XRP: does that print actually shift sentiment? Lending demand over at Coinbase and any fresh, regulated stablecoin movement on XRPL—if those factors register in the tape as more than just headlines—will be telling.
