XRP News Today: Institutional Confidence Fuels Crypto Surge: Pudgy Penguins, XRP, and BlockDAG Outperform Amid Retail Jitters

Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) surged 8% in the past week, driven by a 70% increase in NFT floor prices and rising institutional interest. The token's price rose from $0.0295 to $0.0365 on July 20–21, supported by whale accumulation of 13–240 million PENGU tokens and a pending SEC-approved ETF filing that allocates 80–95% to PENGU and NFTs The Bit Journal^[1]. The NFT trading volume has exceeded $2 billion, with floor prices jumping from ~10 ETH to ~16.9 ETH in two weeks The Bit Journal^[1]. Analysts project short-term targets of $0.042–$0.047 within seven days and $0.058–$0.081 if momentum persists, citing strong technical indicators such as an RSI above 80 and a symmetrical triangle breakout The Bit Journal^[1].

XRP, the native token of Ripple, saw a $340 million accumulation by whale addresses, with on-chain data showing increased supply in wallets holding over 100 tokens Cointelegraph^[3]. Despite retail fear metrics hitting levels last seen during Trump-era tariff sell-offs, institutional sentiment remains bullish. Santiment data suggests historical patterns where retail pessimism preceded a 125% rebound in April 2025 Cointelegraph^[3]. The token is testing a symmetrical triangle breakout, with a potential 45% rally to $4.29 if the upper boundary holds Cointelegraph^[3]. Exchange reserves, particularly on Binance (3.6 billion XRP), remain elevated, signaling potential selling pressure but also institutional confidence The Currency Analytics^[5].

Meanwhile, BlockDAG (BDAG) raised over $420 million in its presale, securing a partnership with the BWT Alpine Formula 1® Team. The project's hybrid blockchain-DAG architecture and EVM compatibility have attracted 312,000 holders, with 20,000 X-Series hardware miners shipped and 3 million daily users on its X1 app Analytics Insight^[7]. The partnership includes fan simulators, on-track activations, and global hackathons, embedding blockchain into motorsport culture Coindoo^[8]. Presale buyers have seen returns of 2,900% since Batch 1, with a confirmed $0.05 listing price and a current presale entry at $0.0012 .

The divergence between retail and institutional sentiment in XRP highlights a recurring theme in crypto markets: large holders often absorb bearish pressure during retail fear spikes The Cryptocurrency Post^[4]. For Pudgy Penguins, the ETF narrative and NFT-driven demand suggest a transition from meme coin to institutional-grade asset, though overbought conditions may trigger short-term corrections The Bit Journal^[1]. BlockDAG's presale success and cultural partnerships demonstrate a new model for blockchain adoption, blending technical innovation with mainstream visibility .