XRP Demand Not Directly Tied to XRPL Expansion, Analysts Say

Analysis indicates that while XRPL usage for payments, stablecoins, and tokenized assets is growing, it is unlikely that XRP demand will increase at the same rate. Network expansion could lead to greater use of XRP for transaction fees, reserve requirements, and bridge assets, but not all transactions require XRP directly.

21Shares highlighted in a September 14 analysis that XRPL’s growth may boost XRP demand, citing its role as a fee, reserve, and bridge asset. XRPL transactions process in 3-5 seconds at approximately $0.0002 per transaction, with a base fee of 0.00001 XRP. Over 14 million XRP has been burned since 2012, representing about 0.014% of the total supply of 10 billion XRP.

21Shares noted that this level of burning does not significantly increase scarcity and is more akin to a network security feature than a supply reduction mechanism. XRP is also required to maintain XRPL accounts and ledger entries, with mainnet reserve requirements set at 1 XRP per account and owner reserves at 0.2 XRP per ledger entry.

Tokenized assets and RLUSD are central to XRPL’s growth narrative. 21Shares estimates tokenized asset volume on XRPL at around $4 billion (approximately KRW 5.548 trillion), while RLUSD supply is cited at approximately $1.6 billion (KRW 221.92 billion) by the firm, though Ripple reported a circulating supply of $2.3956 billion (KRW 332.2 billion) as of September 3.

Ripple notes RLUSD is issued across multiple networks including XRP Ledger and Ethereum, so comparing total supply with XRPL circulation requires considering chain distribution and date of reference. Evernorth’s SEC filing showed RLUSD’s share on XRPL rose from about 17% in April 2026 to 52% by June 30, 2026, with $900 million (KRW 124.83 billion) processed in XRP/RLUSD pairs through June 2026.

However, it remains unclear whether RLUSD trading directly drives XRP holdings or purchase demand, as stablecoin transactions may occur via native tokens or other liquidity channels. 21Shares estimates XRPL’s DeFi volume at over $30 million (KRW 4.161 billion), with XRP potentially serving as an intermediate pair for illiquid assets on the base decentralized exchange.

Current metrics alone do not confirm actual usage or demand contribution from features like DeFi lending, which remain in development. XRPL’s recent activity levels reflect network scale but are not synonymous with XRP demand. 21Shares reported XRPL processed an average of 1.7 million daily transactions and $1.3 billion (KRW 180.31 billion) in on-chain value over the past year.

Ultimately, the key is not just increased XRPL activity but how much of it directly requires XRP—measured by fee, reserve, bridge liquidity usage, and XRP-mediated transaction volume.