New York, February 18, 2026, 12:19 (EST) — Regular session
XRP slipped 1.5% to $1.46 on Wednesday. Even so, the token remained up around 8% from last week, following a turbulent period across the crypto market. (CoinGecko)
Société Générale-FORGE, the crypto division of the French banking giant, rolled out its EUR CoinVertible (EURCV) stablecoin on the XRP Ledger—marking another step after previous launches on Ethereum and Solana. The news came as the token’s price moved lower. (LinkedIn)
Stablecoins aim for price stability, usually backed one-to-one with fiat. According to SG-FORGE, its EUR CoinVertible token sticks to a 1:1 peg against the euro and is “fully backed” by segregated collateral. CoinVertible operates on Ethereum, Solana, XRPL, and Stellar networks. (SG Forge)
Cassie Craddock, who heads Ripple in the UK and Europe, confirmed that Ripple is handling the custody infrastructure side of the deployment. She described it as “a huge win for the ecosystem” in a LinkedIn post. (LinkedIn)
Policy chatter is creeping back in. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse put odds at “80%” for the CLARITY Act — that’s the U.S. digital asset market-structure bill — to clear by end-April, pressing lawmakers for a workable deal. “Clarity is better than chaos,” Garlinghouse said. (Benzinga)
Investors aren’t diving in across the board, fund flows suggest. Digital-asset products logged outflows for the fourth week running, with $173 million leaving the space, according to CoinShares. Notably, XRP-linked products stood out, pulling in $33.4 million last week. CoinShares pointed to improving sentiment after a softer consumer price index, calling the CPI a key inflation marker. (Coinshares)
Bitcoin was last seen at roughly $67,090, with ether hanging just under the $2,000 mark—$1,976, to be precise, based on Binance data. XRP, for its part, tends to shadow sentiment from the largest tokens, particularly when markets lack a clear narrative.
Crypto still tracks macro moves, especially when U.S. interest rates shift, behaving much like other risk assets. Fresh data Wednesday showed new orders for core U.S.-made capital goods up 0.6% in December, while shipments posted a 0.9% gain. “Firms outside of the tech space began to re-engage late last year,” noted Stephen Stanley, chief U.S. economist at Santander U.S. Capital Markets. (Reuters)
Still, risks linger. The stablecoin rollout might not spark instant on-chain demand, and the U.S. legislative effort could easily stall once more. Any uptick in data or a surge in Treasury yields can siphon liquidity out of crypto, sending it back to cash.
Friday brings fresh U.S. data that could sharpen the picture on growth and inflation. At 8:30 a.m. EST, the Bureau of Economic Analysis will roll out its advance fourth-quarter GDP estimate along with December personal income and outlays. (Bea)
