The year 2026 is turning out to be a promising and exciting one, especially for Ripple, as the leading payment firm continues to carry out strategic moves to bolster operations in the crypto and financial sectors. One of the most recent moves making waves in the space is the investment to support LMAX and strengthen market infrastructure.LMAX Gains Major Boost With Ripple InvestmentA recent report discloses that Ripple has taken yet another significant step in its institutional expansion by investing to support LMAX’s worldwide business strategy. With the aim of reinforcing its commitment to building a robust, enterprise-grade market infrastructure, the firm has invested over $150 million to support this strategy.Ripple’s move underscores its focus on strengthening the railroads that link digital assets with traditional finance, expanding access to regulated trading platforms, and deepening liquidity. Such a move marks the persistent efforts of the company in transforming global trading models.According to market expert and trader Pumpius on X, this is a far bigger move than a simple strategic investment from the payment firm. Instead, it is a strategic integration move aimed at hardwiring the adjacency of XRP to institutional price discovery and execution infrastructure.The expert highlighted that LMAX operates high-performance, low-latency venues for FX, metals, and digital assets, which are being used by banks, funds, and professional liquidity providers. This creates a period where size is traded under stringent regulatory standards, and risk is controlled.By supporting LMAX’s global expansion, Pumpius stated that Ripple is making sure XRP is positioned within venues that institutions already trust for hedging funds, market making, and balance sheet management. This seems to be a better move in comparison to relying on fragmented retail liquidity.Interestingly, this bolsters Ripple’s end-to-end stack across settlement, liquidity provisioning, custody, and execution. While it may seem complex, this is vital since tokenized deposits, compliant stablecoins, and on-chain settlement are shifting into production.However, Pumpius added that the outcome is deeper liquidity, tighter spreads, and routine XRP usage within regulated market infrastructure, long before the wider market notices the underlying shift.XRP Charting Path To New All-Time High?XRP is regaining bullish traction as market structure points to a historical trend that preceded a massive wave up to previous highs. From a weekly timeframe chart shared by ChartNerd, XRP is forming a pivotal Golden Cross pattern, which could shape its next trajectory.It is worth noting that the last time this pattern appeared on the weekly Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), the altcoin rallied to new all-time highs. With the same structure unfolding, a similar price trend is expected to occur.Currently, the MACD is in oversold territory, and the Golden Cross formation is expected to form in the upcoming weeks. Given that the market structure is protecting a 400-day defense zone, expansion seems likely.