A staggering disconnect is puzzling XRP holders: Ripple is now facilitating an estimated $16 trillion in annual payment and clearing activity, yet the price of XRP remains stubbornly sluggish. The core reason for the XRP price vs Ripple volume disparity is that the vast majority of this massive transaction flow, driven by key Ripple acquisitions, does not actually use the XRP digital asset for settlement.
Instead, many of Ripple’s new institutional partners are opting for its dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD. While Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse views the current landscape as a “tremendous opportunity” to migrate traditional finance onto blockchain rails, the reality for now is that the company’s corporate success isn’t directly translating into demand for its native token.
Where is the $16 trillion in payment volume coming from, and how does it affect XRP price?
The headline-grabbing $16 trillion figure primarily stems from business lines Ripple acquired, not from organic growth in its XRP-based products. Ripple Treasury, the company formed from its acquisition of GTreasury, accounts for approximately $13 trillion of that volume. Another $3 trillion in annual clearing activity comes from Ripple Prime, the division built from the acquisition of Hidden Road.
But a critical detail, confirmed by company data, reveals the disconnect. Only about 0.1%, or “close to zero percent,” of this aggregate volume currently settles on-chain using XRP, stablecoins, or any other blockchain-based asset. The bulk of it remains within traditional financial systems, even as it’s managed by Ripple’s software suites.
During a CNBC interview on June 26, 2026, Brad Garlinghouse framed this as a starting point. “How do we bring traditional finance into the modern architecture of blockchain?” he asked, adding that through its acquisitions, “we have a tremendous opportunity to bring that in.” For now, that opportunity remains largely untapped, with the services generating billions for Ripple operating independently of the XRP token itself.
Partners increasingly choose stablecoins over XRP
Recent high-profile partnerships further highlight the trend of institutions favoring stablecoins for settlement over XRP. When Robinhood announced its agreement with Ripple, it specified plans to use RLUSD on the XRP Ledger for institutional settlement. It’s also integrating Ripple Treasury into its cash-management operations, another service that doesn’t inherently drive XRP demand.
Similarly, Coinbase expanded its offerings by listing RLUSD for its U.S. clients, making the stablecoin accessible across multiple blockchains. This means customers can use Ripple’s dollar-backed asset without ever creating a transaction on the XRP Ledger itself. This preference is logical for institutions seeking to avoid the price volatility associated with holding cryptocurrencies like XRP.
The strategy is working for Ripple’s stablecoin. The market capitalization for RLUSD has surpassed $2 billion, with nearly $1 billion issued on the XRP Ledger and another $1.05 billion on Ethereum. This demonstrates a clear product-market fit for a regulated, dollar-backed token, but it also diverts potential settlement volume that might have otherwise used XRP as a bridge asset.
What this means for XRP utility
The core value proposition for XRP has always been its role as a bridge currency, designed to facilitate fast, low-cost cross-border payments. When a transaction uses XRP as the intermediary, it creates buy-and-sell pressure that contributes to the token’s liquidity and market depth. It’s a powerful use case that differentiates it from many other digital assets.
However, when partners like Robinhood and Coinbase choose RLUSD, they are sidestepping that bridge function. They can move value denominated in U.S. dollars directly, eliminating the need to convert into and out of XRP. While these transactions still consume a tiny network fee paid in XRP, the amount is negligible and does not create meaningful demand.
Is On-Demand Liquidity still a factor?
While the $16 trillion figure captures headlines, Ripple’s core XRP-powered product, On-Demand Liquidity (ODL), tells a different story. Now rebranded as Ripple Payments, this service uses XRP as intended—as a bridge for cross-border transactions. It eliminates the need for nostro/vostro accounts, where banks must pre-fund accounts in foreign currencies.
The volume for Ripple Payments is growing steadily. The service processed over $15 billion in cross-border payments in 2024, a 32% year-over-year increase, and is on track to surpass $150 billion in lifetime volume by the end of 2026. These numbers are substantial and represent real, utility-driven demand for XRP. But they are dwarfed by the trillions flowing through Ripple’s other non-crypto services.
This is the central tension for investors. The product that actually uses XRP is a small, albeit growing, fraction of Ripple’s overall business ecosystem. The XRP Ledger integrated DEX can route some stablecoin trades through XRP if it offers a better price, but this is not guaranteed.
The path to higher XRP valuation depends on either converting a portion of the $16 trillion to on-chain settlement or achieving exponential growth in the Ripple Payments vertical.
Supply pressures and broader market headwinds
Demand is only one side of the price equation. On the supply side, Ripple’s scheduled escrow releases continue to be a talking point. The company unlocks 1 billion XRP from escrow on the first of every month. While a portion is often re-locked, these releases make a significant number of tokens available for sale, potentially offsetting new demand.
Network transaction fees, which permanently burn XRP, are not yet having a meaningful impact on the circulating supply. From January 1 to October 29, 2026, a total of 153,989 XRP was burned. At current prices, that’s less than $200,000 worth of tokens removed from a market with a circulating supply of over 63 billion.
The fees are designed to be low to encourage network use, not to create a deflationary spiral.
Broader market sentiment also plays a crucial role. As of October 29, 2026, XRP’s price hovered around $1.29, down over 50% for the year and roughly 65% below its July 2025 record of $3.65. While the conclusion of the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit in 2025 removed a major overhang, other factors, such as the defeat of the CLARITY Act in September 2026, also weighed on market sentiment and the XRP Ledger payments proposal.
The road ahead for XRP and Ripple
Despite the disconnect, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse remains publicly committed to the token. At the Ripple Swell conference on October 28, 2026, he stated that the company “will never give up on XRP” and will “only do things that are good for XRP.”
The company’s financial health is robust, with a valuation of $50 billion as of March 2026 and projections to exit the year with $900 million in annualized product revenue.
The challenge is bridging the gap between Ripple’s corporate success and value accrual for token holders, who have no direct claim on company profits. For the XRP price to reflect the growth of the Ripple ecosystem, a much larger share of that $16 trillion in payment volume needs to move on-chain.
Until that happens, investors are left weighing the token’s existing utility in Ripple Payments against a corporate strategy that is increasingly focused on products that don’t require it.