TLDR:
- Five XRP spot ETFs launched in the US, locking 769M tokens with zero net outflow days in month one.
- Goldman Sachs holds $153.8M in XRP ETFs, making it the top institutional holder across four funds.
- XRPL daily transactions hit 3 million on March 15, tripling from mid-2025 averages across key use cases.
- Ripple’s $50B private valuation and $500M funding round drew top Wall Street and crypto-native firms.
XRP has attracted notable institutional attention in 2026, with five spot ETFs now trading in the United States. Cumulative inflows reached $1.50 billion by early March.
The funds locked over 769 million XRP tokens across combined custody arrangements. JPMorgan forecasts first-year inflows between $4 billion and $8.4 billion. Despite these developments, XRP trades around $1.36, well below its July 2025 high of $3.65.
Institutional Adoption Drives ETF Growth
Goldman Sachs disclosed a $153.8 million spot XRP ETF position in its Q4 2025 13F filing. This makes Goldman the single largest known institutional holder of XRP ETFs.
The allocation spans Bitwise, Franklin Templeton’s XRPZ, Grayscale’s GXRP, and 21Shares’ TOXR. Together, these holdings account for roughly 73% of the top 30 institutional holdings combined.
Ripple entered 2026 at a $50 billion private valuation. This places it among the ten most valuable private companies globally.
It also stands as the only blockchain-focused firm in that group. The company holds more than 75 regulatory licenses worldwide and has logged over $95 billion in cumulative transaction volume.
A $500 million strategic funding round closed in November, drawing 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 stablecoin-powered credit card payments.
As noted by BSCNews, the registered zero net outflow days in the ETFs’ first month of trading. This points to sustained 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 the XRP Ledger reached 3 million on March 15. That figure represents a threefold increase from mid-2025 averages.
AMM pool activity, tokenized assets, and RLUSD-denominated settlement flows drove the growth. The ledger has now processed more than 4 billion transactions since inception.
Real-world asset tokenization on XRPL has grown to over $474 million. The represented value is approaching $1.5 billion.
This growth reflects broader adoption of the ledger for non-speculative financial use cases. It also positions XRPL as a settlement layer for institutional-grade transactions.
On the technical side, RippleX shipped a node stability patch on March 13. An AI-driven security overhaul followed on March 26.
A four-phase quantum-resistance roadmap targeting 2028 is also underway, with Phase 2 in progress. Lending Protocol and Single Asset Vaults are currently under amendment voting.
Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick has forecast XRP reaching $8 in 2026. He cited ETF flows and regulatory clarity from the CLARITY Act as key drivers.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has predicted XRP capturing 14% of SWIFT volume within five years. Price performance, however, remains the one area yet to reflect the broader momentum.