Institutional Money Is Flowing In—Quietly but Consistently
While the rest of the crypto market winds down for the holidays, XRP is doing something unusual: it’s holding its ground. Since early November, new spot XRP exchange-traded funds from names like Grayscale, Bitwise, and Franklin Templeton have pulled in over $1.2 billion. This week, net inflows crossed the $1 billion mark. Even more telling? These funds have seen positive inflows for thirty-two straight trading days—a streak that neither bitcoin nor ether ETFs can claim right now.
Market makers say the buying doesn’t look like retail FOMO. It’s steady, deliberate—the kind of flow you see when asset managers are filling out portfolio allocations, not chasing pumps. That fits with year-end rebalancing, especially as more institutions get comfortable with regulated products over direct token purchases.
You can see the effect in the actual market. XRP’s daily trading volume is down only 8% this month, while bitcoin is off 22% and ether has dropped 27%. The ETF creations are soaking up sell pressure, which is why XRP has managed to stay near $1.90 even as the broader market gives back November’s gains.
A Legal Win and Better Macro Timing Are Drawing in Conservative Buyers
XRP has something most altcoins don’t: regulatory clarity. A July 2025 court ruling said that when regular people buy and sell XRP on exchanges, those aren’t securities transactions. It’s not a blanket pass—Ripple’s direct sales to institutions are still in a grey zone—but it removed a major overhang. That matters to the kinds of investors who won’t touch anything the SEC is actively fighting over.
Timing helps too. Inflation is cooling, the Fed is easing off the brakes, and investors are rotating out of high-risk speculation into assets with clearer stories. For some, XRP’s legal progress is filling that role the same way bitcoin’s “digital gold” narrative did in past cycles. At around $117 billion in market cap, it’s big enough for serious money to move in, but small enough to offer returns that stand apart from the rest of the market.
The Price Is Coiling—Something’s About to Give
On the charts, XRP has been stuck in a tight range for most of December. It’s trading inside a descending channel on the four-hour timeframe, with resistance right at the $2.00 level—lined up almost perfectly with the 50- and 100-period moving averages. That’s a meaningful line in the sand.
Momentum indicators are starting to look better. The relative strength index is climbing out of oversold territory and showing bullish divergence—meaning price made a lower low last week at $1.85, but the RSI didn’t, which often precedes a reversal. Still, volume is weak. Traders are waiting.
What Happens Next
A clean break above $2.00 would flip the eight-week downtrend and open the door to $2.11, then $2.15–$2.17 where heavier selling showed up before. If it fails, the risk is a slide back to $1.85, and possibly $1.77, which was a breakout level back in September. Options traders aren’t pricing in much action—implied volatility is near yearly lows—but that usually changes fast once direction becomes clear, likely early in Q1 when institutions reset their books and liquidity picks back up.
Whether XRP breaks out or breaks down, the underlying forces—steady institutional flows, legal breathing room, and a tight technical setup—suggest the next move will be driven by structure, not hype. In a market that’s been light on substance, that’s a refreshing change.
