XRP Dominates Institutional Inflows, But Why Is Price Still Low?

[Ben Graham]

XRP is at the center of the institutional flows, leading the crypto market in streaks of capital inflows even as its price is locked around $2. Recent data shows that money is still entering into Spot XRP ETF products, but despite this steady demand and a clear shift toward bullish sentiment across social platforms, XRP’s spot price has struggled to break higher, and this raises questions as to why inflows and price action appear out of sync.

Spot XRP ETFs Are Seeing Relentless Institutional Demand

Institutional appetite for XRP has been especially visible through Spot XRP exchange-traded funds. These products have now logged 19 days of uninterrupted inflows, with a fresh capital of $20.17 million added again on Friday. 

The latest figures from SoSoValue show that these inflows pushed cumulative inflows to $990.91 million, close to the $1 billion mark. Assets under management have also continued to rise, now sitting well above the $1 billion threshold at $1.18 billion. To put this into perspective, Spot Ethereum ETFs ended last week with $19.41 million of outflows

This pattern points to deliberate and sustained accumulation of XRP. Institutions appear comfortable building exposure to XRP gradually, taking advantage of its deep liquidity and regulated access through ETF structures.

Bullish Social Sentiment Has Not Yet Translated To Price

Another notable trend with XRP is that sentiment among retail participants has turned increasingly optimistic in the past few days. Data from market intelligence firm Santiment, which monitors discussions across platforms including X, Telegram, Reddit, and Discord, points to a noticeable increase in positive commentary surrounding the altcoin over the past week.

Santiment data shows that XRP has ranked among the most positively discussed assets of the year, much higher than Ethereum. This increase in positive sentiment has been characterized by traders expressing confidence as the price continues to hold above $2. Particularly, Santiment data shows that last week was the seventh most bullish sentiment week of 2025 for XRP.

Retail Staying Optimistic Toward XRP. Source: Santiment

Under normal conditions, this combination of strong inflows and improving sentiment would typically suggest a bullish setup. However, sentiment alone does not move markets, and XRP has been range-bound around $2. 

The most important thing is the difference between buying and selling pressure. The lack of bullish price action means that persistent sell-side activity from existing holders has been sufficient to absorb incoming demand, and this has kept XRP’s price constrained even as accumulation quietly builds. 

The same dynamic applies to ETF flows. Although Spot XRP ETFs have posted inflows for 19 consecutive days, the daily figures are relatively modest. Inflows would need to expand into the hundreds of millions of dollars on a consistent basis for these products to reflect in the XRP price. The strongest signal of improving sentiment right now is XRP’s ability to hold above $2 in the next few trading sessions, rather than any decisive breakout to the upside.