Messari: RLUSD Market Cap on XRPL Surges 164% in Q4 as Institutional XRP Adoption Rises
Messari’s “State of XRP Ledger” Q4 2025 report shows strong institutional uptake of XRP products and growth in XRPL real-world assets (RWAs), alongside wider market weakness. Key findings: RLUSD stablecoin market cap on the XRP Ledger rose 164.2% QoQ to $234.9M (48.8% growth on Ethereum to $1.04B; combined $1.28B). Distributed RWAs on XRPL reached an all-time market cap of $2.2812B, up 37% QoQ. Major US spot XRP ETFs launched in Q4 2025 (including Canary Capital, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Bitwise, 21Shares) amassed over $1B AUM within four weeks and held 789.8M XRP (1.3% of circulating supply) by Jan 28. Positive on-chain metrics: average daily transactions rose 3.1% to 1.83M. Negatives: XRP circulating supply reported down 34.5% QoQ to 111.6B (from 170.3B), price fell 35.4% in Q4 from $2.85 to $1.84 (trading near $1.20 at publication), daily generated fees dropped 74.1% to $133,100, active addresses fell 8.2% to 49,000, and new addresses declined 4.9% to 425,400. RLUSD continued expanding to $1.49B total market cap per RWA.xyz. The report signals meaningful institutional flows into XRP products and XRPL RWAs, but broader network activity and token price contracted amid a weak quarter for crypto.
Bullish
The report combines clear signs of institutional demand with expanding on-ledger real-world asset activity, which are bullish fundamentals for XRP and XRPL. Large US spot XRP ETFs amassed significant AUM quickly and collectively hold 789.8M XRP, indicating durable institutional inflows that can reduce available supply and support price over time. The RLUSD and RWA growth (RLUSD +164.2% on XRPL; distributed RWA market cap at $2.281B) point to expanding utility and issuance on XRPL, increasing on-chain demand for settlement and liquidity services. Short-term price and activity weakness (price down, fees and active addresses falling) reflect macro and market-cycle pressures; such indicators can keep volatility high and may cause further downside before fundamentals reassert. Historically, ETF launches and sizable institutional accumulation (e.g., BTC/ETH spot products) have supported medium-term price recoveries despite initial volatility. For traders: expect elevated volatility near-term, with potential buy-the-dip opportunities as institutional flows continue; monitor ETF flows, RLUSD/RWA issuance rates, circulating supply changes, and on-chain activity (fees, active addresses) for confirmation. Strategy implications: momentum and event-driven traders can trade volatility around ETF flow reports and RWA issuance announcements; longer-term positions may benefit if institutional accumulation persists and on-ledger utility expands.