On August 18, Ripple announced that Jeonbuk Bank had become the first regional bank in South Korea to deploy Ripple Payments. On the same day, XRP fell below $1. Good news and a bad price happened at the same time. This is not a coincidence. This is the market voting with its feet. First, the “obvious bullish news”—it certainly looks good. Founded in 1969, Jeonbuk Bank is a subsidiary of JB Financial Group and the leading lending institution in its province. What is it going to do? Replace SWIFT with Ripple Payments. Previously, cross-border remittances via SWIFT took days. Now, Ripple Payments takes seconds to minutes and operates 7×24 hours. Who are the target customers? Import and export companies, IT startups, and online content creators. Ripple Asia-Pacific Managing Director Fiona Murray said: “This collaboration reflects the growing momentum we are seeing in South Korea’s institutional financial sector.” This is Ripple’s third institutional partnership in South Korea this year. It had previously partnered with KBank (digital asset custody and wallet infrastructure) and Kyobo Life Insurance (tokenized government bond settlement). South Korea’s three leading financial institutions have all been secured within six months. Ripple’s penetration into South Korea’s banking infrastructure is visibly expanding. But the “hidden bearish factor” is the key. There is only one core question: What currency will Jeonbuk Bank actually use for cross-border settlement? In Ripple’s official announcement, the description was “stablecoin cross-border settlement.” CoinDesk directly asked Ripple whether Jeonbuk Bank’s fund flows would use XRP. Ripple did not respond. Multiple reports pointed out that Jeonbuk Bank’s transactions did not use the XRP cryptocurrency. KBank’s pilot used stablecoin-based settlement rather than XRP as a bridge asset. Over the past year, Ripple has been promoting the RLUSD stablecoin as an institutional settlement asset. Every transaction has been confirmed to use Ripple’s infrastructure, but not a single one has been confirmed to use XRP. Do you see it now? Ripple is winning. But XRP may not be. Ripple’s institutional partnerships are a “company-level victory,” while XRP’s price is a “token-level battle.” These two things could once be equated—Ripple gains customers = XRP rises. But not anymore. Ripple is using the RLUSD stablecoin and fiat channels to handle an increasing share of settlement volume. Demand for XRP as a bridge asset is being bypassed. The data does not lie. DefiLlama data shows that only 0.16% of DEX transactions on XRPL over the past 72 hours used XRP as a bridge asset. The network is expanding, transactions are growing, and AI agents have completed 2 million payments on XRPL. But XRP has not benefited. On August 19, XRP was trading at $0.99, testing the $1 level for the ninth consecutive trading day. That is down approximately 73% from its July 2025 high of $3.65. At the beginning of the year, Standard Chartered slashed its 2026 price target for XRP from $8 to $2.80. This is not FUD. This is fact. Ripple’s banking partnership model is evolving—from “settlement using XRP” to “settlement using Ripple’s infrastructure; the currency is another matter.” For Ripple, this is a good thing. It is more flexible and compliant, and banks are more willing to adopt it. But for XRP holders, it is a nightmare. Because XRP’s only value narrative is adoption. If what gets adopted is Ripple’s technology rather than the XRP token, what remains of XRP’s valuation logic? One painful final point: Ripple can succeed without XRP. But XRP cannot rise without Ripple adoption. Jeonbuk Bank is Ripple’s Nth customer, but not necessarily XRP’s Nth buyer. South Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act is being finalized and is expected to classify stablecoins as payment instruments. RLUSD has already processed $2.5 billion in transaction volume on the XRP Ledger. What is XRP doing? Struggling below $1.#Gate事件积分系统上线 #我的七夕交易分享 #宇树科技上市首日大涨629% $BTC $ETH $XRP $SNDK $MU

August third-week trading record: 5 trades, all wins, zero mistakes🔥 BTC: two long trades, 669 points + 832 points, maximum +258.96% ETH: one long and one short, 22 points + 21 points, both above 225% BTC short trade: 528 points, +163.33% Profiting in both directions, with BTC and ETH both flourishing. Even in a range-bound market, you can steadily make gains. It’s not luck—it’s the precise grasp of the range. Not seeking to double every trade, only seeking to get every trade right. $BTC ‌$ETH #Gate7天净流入全球Top3

Bitcoin $BTC was trading around USD 64,475 and Ethereum $ETH around USD 1,915 on August 19, 2026. Both assets were moving in a slight positive consolidation amid geopolitical tensions, with BTC testing the 50-day EMA support and ETH targeting crucial resistance above USD 1,950. Bitcoin Analysis • Price & Movement : Standing at USD 64,475 (up about 0.35% in 24 hours). The market is holding steady above the $64,000 zone despite global risk-off sentiment. • Technicals : BTC is holding above the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) around $64,368. The RSI is in the neutral-positive area (52). • Support & Resistance : Immediate support is at $63,712, while major resistance lies in the $66,000–$67,000 range. A breakout above this level is needed to confirm a further recovery towards $69,200. Ethereum Analysis • Price & Movement : Trading at USD 1,915 (up slightly by about 0.47% in 24 hours). Movement remains sideways . • Technical : The price is above the 50-day EMA ($1,871) but still below the 100-day EMA ($1,918). The MACD indicator shows bearish momentum is starting to weaken. • Support & Resistance : The nearest resistance is at the 100-day EMA ($1,918). If it can break through and consolidate above $1,950, ETH has the potential for a short-term rally to the psychological level of $2,000. Lower support is located at $1,871. #trading #GateSquare #ANALISIS #btc #eth