‘It’s All or Nothing,’ Says Investor About XRP

XRP (XRP-USD) has been part of the recent rebound across crypto markets, posting an 8% gain over the past week. Still, at $1.43, the cross-border payments-focused token continues to trade about 61% below its $3.65 peak reached last July.

Nevertheless, while the coin has mostly been on the back foot since then, at the same time, the seven spot XRP exchange-traded funds in the U.S. have been gaining traction, collectively pulling in about $1.44 billion in net inflows since their late 2025 debut.

“That is a lot of money walking into a product class that didn’t even exist a year ago,” says investor Michael A. Gayed.

The seven U.S. spot ETFs currently manage a combined $1 billion in assets, down from a January high of $1.65 billion. However, Gayed says the drop is largely attributable to the price decline rather than investor withdrawals. Notably, following their launch, the funds recorded 35 straight trading days without a single net outflow.

“Neither Bitcoin nor Ethereum spot ETFs matched that streak in their early months,” says Gayed. “I think there’s something worth paying attention to here, and it is not just the headline inflow number.

So, who actually holds these ETFs? That’s the “most interesting” part, says Gayed. Canary Capital’s XRPC tops the list with $260 million in AUM, with Bitwise close behind at $257 million and Franklin Templeton’s XRPZ at $211 million. Goldman Sachs has about $153.8 million spread across four of the funds.

But there is a catch. Roughly 84% of XRP ETF assets are still held by retail investors, meaning the widely anticipated institutional surge has yet to show up in a meaningful way. According to a Coinbase and EY-Parthenon survey of 351 institutional investors, 18% already have exposure to XRP, while 25% intend to allocate in 2026. “Those are large numbers on paper,” says Gayed. “Whether the actual allocations follow through depends almost entirely on what happens in Washington over the next few weeks.”

Gayed is referring to the CLARITY Act. This legislation matters because the March 17 joint classification from the SEC and CFTC (which classifies XRP and 15 other major cryptocurrencies as “digital commodities” rather than securities) is only interpretive and could be reversed by a future administration. That lack of permanence is a barrier for pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds, which typically avoid assets without firm legal grounding.

The CLARITY Act – a proposed U.S. legislation designed to establish a clear and structured regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, which passed the House in July 2025 with a 294–134 bipartisan vote, has since stalled in the Senate over disagreements on whether stablecoin issuers can offer yield. A compromise was reached in March by Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks, and the Senate Banking Committee is now aiming for a markup in the second half of April, according to Senator Lummis. However, Senator Moreno has cautioned that if the bill does not move forward by May, midterm election pressures could delay it for years.

“I’d argue this is the single most important variable for XRP’s price over the next twelve months. Not chart patterns. Not whale wallet movements. Legislation,” Gayed explained.

So, what should investors do with that info? Gayed admits XRP’s setup right now is “binary in a way I don’t love.”

The CLARITY Act will either progress in April or be delayed until 2027. If it passes, it could act as a ‘genuine catalyst’ for institutional adoption while prices remain far below the peak. If it stalls, XRP would be left trading below key moving averages without a “near-term fundamental driver.”

While ETF inflows are genuine, they are still largely retail-driven, and roughly $1 billion in AUM is not yet large enough to have the market impact that a $10 billion scale would.

“I wouldn’t call this a screaming buy or a clear avoid,” Gayed summed up, rating XRP a Hold (i.e., Neutral). (To watch Gayed’s track record, click here)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured investor. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.