XRP ETFs rake in $1bn but some analysts are taking a contrarian view: ‘Expect minimal growth’

XRP exchange-traded funds have pulled in over $1 billion since they launched in November 2025. Yet some analysts forecast the fun won’t last.

“Investing is all about growth potential and who is building on top of a blockchain,” Brian Huang, co-founder of investment platform Glider, told DL News.

“When we look at a16z’s builder mindshare, XRP doesn’t even show up.”

But showing up on Andreessen Horowitz’s builder list might not matter since XRP ETFs have been crushing it.

Following their launch in mid November, XRP ETFs — which have amassed $1.2 billion — have recorded inflows every day except for one, according to SoSoValue data.

That performance sharply outpaces Bitcoin ETFs, which saw $2.4 billion in outflows over the same period, and Ethereum ETFs, which bled $898 million, per data from DefiLlama.

Much of the XRP inflow has come from institutions that like Ripple’s approach to compliance.

XRP “has the most to gain” from the successful passage of the Clarity Act, “which is looking likely,” Katherine Dowling, president of the Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company previously told DL News.

Ripple “has notched a number of recent business successes and an additive fund raise plus the new XRP ETFs are assisting as well,” she said.

In November, Ripple tripled its valuation to $40 billion following a $500 million funding round that included Citadel Securities, Fortress, Pantera Capital, and Galaxy Digital. The same day, Ripple announced a partnership with Mastercard and Gemini for stablecoin payments.

No builders, no growth

Huang’s skepticism stems from who’s building, or not, on XRP.

He pointed to Andreessen Horowitz’s builder mindshare data, which tracks developer activity across blockchains. XRP barely appears.

“Builders create infrastructure and apps which grow the ecosystem and value of the underlying token.” Huang told DL News. “Without builders, expect minimal growth for XRP.”

He also said that most big players don’t even think of Ripple-linked XRP as a serious project.

“Institutional investors, who hold the vast majority of crypto ETFs, are not likely to want to hold XRP,” he said. “They think of it as a meme coin.”

Underestimating XRP

To be sure, an ETF might not need builders to be successful.

Instead, all it might need is the existence of a tight-knit community that believes in the network — and is willing to buy up anything that offers exposure to the native token.

And XRP has no shortage of those believers.

The so-called “XRP Army” — a loyal community of XRP investors — has remained fiercely faithful through years of regulatory doubt, including Ripple’s long-lasting legal battle with the SEC.

“People underestimate [XRP] because the median opinion in crypto is pretty bearish on XRP,” Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise, previously told DL News.

“But what drives flows? A group of people that buys the asset — and the XRP Army is incredibly bullish and loves XRP.”

Pedro Solimano is DL News’ markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at [email protected].