XRP Ledger Activity Rises 35% Despite XRP Price Drop, Reports Messari

XRP had a slow start to 2026 from a market viewpoint; however, activity on the XRP Ledger saw a significant boost during this period, as detailed in Messari’s State of XRP Q1 2026 report.

XRP price falls as trading volumes decline

As per Messari, XRP ended Q1 as the fourth-largest non-stablecoin crypto asset by market cap, following Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB. However, the token followed the overall market’s downward trend during this quarter.

XRP’s market capitalization declined by 26.3% quarter-over-quarter, landing at $82.21 billion. Its price also fell by 27.1% to $1.34, while the circulating supply increased by 1.1% to 61.34 billion XRP.

Furthermore, trading activity experienced a downturn, with Messari recording a 32% drop in average daily spot volume and a 28.6% reduction in perpetual futures volume during the quarter.

The report highlighted that U.S. spot XRP ETFs finished Q1 holding 775.4 million XRP, which accounted for 1.26% of the circulating supply, marking a 1.9% increase from the prior quarter.

XRPL transactions see substantial growth

In spite of the drop in XRP’s price, network activity saw substantial growth. Messari reported a 35.3% increase in average daily transactions on the XRP Ledger quarter-over-quarter.

Daily transactions rose from 1.83 million to 2.48 million, demonstrating heightened XRPL usage amid falling token prices and diminished trading activity.

This growth is attributed to the network’s expanding feature set, which continues to enable payments, token issuance, decentralized liquidity, real-world assets, and stablecoins.

Messari also pointed out that XRP’s value remains linked to network utilization through transaction fees, account reserves, liquidity, asset ownership, and currency bridging.

RLUSD and tokenized assets fueling growth

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin saw significant growth during the quarter, closing Q1 with a market cap of $340.3 million on XRPL, which reflects a 44.9% quarter-over-quarter increase.

This positions RLUSD as the top stablecoin on the XRP Ledger. By the end of the quarter, RLUSD had more holders on XRPL than on Ethereum, despite Ethereum managing a higher transfer volume.

The market cap for XRPL’s real-world assets also demonstrated remarkable growth, rising 124.1% quarter-over-quarter to $2.25 billion.

This expansion positioned XRPL among the leading public blockchains for tokenized assets, ranking seventh in RWA market cap by the end of Q1, and fourth at the time of publication.

Advancements in institutional finance tools

Messari observed that new institutional finance tools made progress during the quarter. Features such as Permissioned Domains, Permissioned DEX, and Token Escrow were introduced on XRPL.

Native lending and asset vault capabilities are still under discussion for voting. If approved, these features could enable lending, borrowing, and more structured use of XRP and other assets on the network.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Morgan Stanley recently revealed minor holdings in two XRP-focused ETFs. Additionally, XRP funds garnered $85.8 million in inflows over three weeks, demonstrating continued demand for regulated products.

However, separate analyses pointed out a significant market tension: while RLUSD might boost XRPL usage, stablecoin settlement may not always create the direct demand for XRP as a bridging asset.

Messari clarified that the report was commissioned by Ripple, maintaining editorial control. It presents a clear distinction for Q1: while XRP’s price and trading activity experienced declines, XRPL transactions, RLUSD adoption, and growth in tokenized assets increased.