$XRP is entering October 2026 after gaining 48% in the third quarter, its best Q3 in four years, and it is trading near $1.49. On October 1, shareholders approved a merger with Evernorth, an XRP treasury company founded by former Ripple executive Asheesh Birla, that raised over $1 billion from backers including Ripple, Kraken, and Pantera Capital. U.S. spot XRP ETFs hold about $1.8 billion in net assets. Two major protocol amendments are set to activate on the XRP Ledger mainnet between October 5 and 9, and Ripple hosts its Swell conference in New York from October 27 to 29. The main risk is the Fed meeting, since markets see about a 64% chance of a quarter-point rate hike on October 27-28. Analysts expect XRP to range between $1.47 and $1.70 until then. This is not financial advice, and crypto prices are highly volatile.