Tldr:
- Five XRP spot ETFs were launched in the US, locking up 769 million tokens with no net outflow days in the first month.
- Goldman Sachs has $153.8 million in XRP ETFs, making it the largest institutional holder across four funds.
- Daily XRPL transactions reached 3 million on March 15, three times the mid-2025 averages across major use cases.
- Ripple’s $50 billion private valuation and $500 million funding round have attracted major Wall Street firms and local crypto companies.
XRP attracted notable institutional interest in 2026, with five spot ETFs now trading in the US. Cumulative flows reached $1.50 billion by early March.
The funds have secured more than 769 million XRP tokens via shared custody arrangements. JP Morgan It expects inflows in the first year ranging between $4 billion and $8.4 billion. Despite these developments, XRP is trading at around $1.36, well below its July 2025 high of $3.65.
Institutional adoption drives growth of ETFs
Goldman Sachs disclosed a spot XRP ETF position of $153.8 million in its 13F filing for Q4 2025. This makes Goldman the largest known institutional holder of XRP ETFs.
The allocation extends to Bitwise, XRPZ from Franklin Templeton, GXRP from Grayscale, and TOXR from 21Shares. Combined, these holdings represent approximately 73% of the 30 largest institutional holdings combined.
ripple It entered 2026 with a private valuation of $50 billion. This places it among the ten most valuable private companies in the world.
It also stands as the only blockchain-focused company in that group. The company holds more than 75 regulatory licenses worldwide and has recorded over $95 billion in cumulative transaction volume.
A $500 million strategic funding round closed in November, attracting major names from traditional finance. Citadel Securities, Fortress, Pantera, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard and Marshall Wace all participated.
On the same day, Ripple announced a partnership with Mastercard and Gemini. The collaboration focuses on credit card payments based on stablecoins.
As noted by BSCNews, there are zero net outflow days recorded in the first month of ETF trading. This indicates continued demand from institutional buyers. The consistency of inflows sets XRP apart from other digital assets in early 2026.
XRPL network activity and technical development
Daily transactions on XRP Ledger Their number reached 3 million on March 15. This number represents a three-fold increase from mid-2025 averages.
AMM pool activity, token assets and settlement flows denominated in RLUSD drove the growth. The ledger has now processed over 4 billion transactions since its inception.
Real-world asset tokenization on XRPL has grown to over $474 million. The represented value is close to $1.5 billion.
This growth reflects a broader adoption of the ledger for non-speculative financial use cases. It also positions XRPL as a settlement layer for institutional transactions.
On the technical side, RippleX shipped a node stability patch on March 13. An AI-driven security fix followed on March 26.
A four-stage quantum resistance roadmap targeting 2028 is also being developed, with the second phase progressing. The lending protocol and individual asset vaults are currently subject to an amendment vote.
Standard Chartered’s Jeffrey Kendrick predicted that the price of XRP would reach $8 in 2026. He cited ETF inflows and regulatory clarity from the CLARITY Act as key drivers.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse It predicted that XRP will account for 14% of SWIFT’s volume within five years. However, price performance remains the only area that has not reflected the broader momentum.
