XRP (Ripple) Plunges 27% Despite Increased Trading Volume... Institutions Use It, But Market Is 'Selling'

▲ XRP

While XRP Ledger transactions and tokenized real-world asset indicators surged, the price of XRP (XRP) fell by 27.1% in the first quarter, highlighting a huge disparity between network growth and token price as a key market variable.

According to crypto media outlet BeInCrypto on June 1 (local time), XRP Ledger's on-chain activity is rapidly increasing, but the price of XRP could not avoid weakness in both Q1 2026 and May. XRP Ledger's daily transaction count increased by 35.3% quarter-over-quarter to 2.48 million, demonstrating expanded real-world network usage in payments, tokenization, and decentralized liquidity services.

The tokenized real-world asset market also grew significantly. The volume of tokenized real-world assets on XRP Ledger reached $2.25 billion in Q1, an increase of 124.1%. Ripple's RLUSD also increased by 45% to $340.3 million, becoming the largest stablecoin on the XRP Ledger as of the end of Q1.

Institutional use cases also emerged. In May, JP Morgan, Mastercard, Ripple, and Ondo Finance conducted real-time international redemption of tokenized US Treasury bonds on the XRP Ledger, and asset settlement was completed in approximately 4.2 seconds. Considering only network activity and institutional experiments, the utilization of XRP Ledger is expanding.

However, the price trend is the opposite. XRP's market capitalization decreased by 26.3% in Q1 to $82.21 billion, and its price fell by 27.1% to $1.34. In May, the price further dropped to around $1.28. Daily average spot trading volume decreased by 32%, and perpetual futures trading volume decreased by 28.6%, indicating that traders' funds moved to other assets, contrary to network growth.

ETF fund flows showed mixed signals despite the sluggish price. US spot XRP ETFs held 707.54 million XRP as of the end of Q1, accounting for approximately 1.26% of the circulating supply. According to SoSoValue, net inflows in May were $131 million, the highest level since 2026. BeInCrypto noted that while network adoption, institutional collaboration, and ETF demand are being maintained, seasonal weakness and overall cryptocurrency market corrections are pressuring spot prices.

Technical price levels were presented as variables that would determine the trend for June. XRP has been moving within a symmetrical triangle since early February, and after falling 53.84% from its January high, it is battling around the lower trendline of $1.26. If it falls below $1.26 for two consecutive days, a downside breakout from the triangle could be confirmed. Conversely, if the support level holds, accumulated short liquidations of $227.1 million could trigger a short squeeze. The key resistance level is $1.46, the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement level, and a clear break above $1.51 could open up the possibility of an upward breakout towards the $1.58 to $1.67 range.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*