Key Takeaways
- XRP fell 27.1% to $1.34 in Q1 2026, losing its position as the No. 4 digital asset to BNB.
- U.S. spot XRP ETFs hit $1 billion AUM in four weeks, driven by corporate and institutional adoption.
- XRPL hit an all-time high of $2.25 billion RWA market cap, positioning the network for future ecosystem growth.
Transaction Fees and Network Deflation
After a promising start to 2026, XRP closed the first quarter at $1.34, a quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) decline of 27.1%. Consequently, XRP—whose circulating supply increased 1.1% to 61.34 billion—ended the quarter with an $82.21 billion market capitalization, effectively relinquishing its position as the No. 4 digital asset to BNB.
According to the latest Messari report, XRP closed the quarter slightly underperforming the combined market capitalization of the three non- stablecoin crypto assets with higher market caps: bitcoin ( BTC), ethereum ( ETH), and BNB, which combined decreased 23.3% QoQ. While the first half of May saw XRP reclaim $1.50, the rebound was fleeting; the cryptocurrency lost nearly all its gains by May 31, leaving its market cap virtually unchanged.
In addition to the market cap decline, the digital asset experienced a notable drop in transaction fees, which plunged nearly 40% QoQ.
“Transaction fees (USD) declined 39.3% QoQ from $133,100 to $80,710, while native transaction fees declined 12% QoQ from 57,600 XRP to 50,750 XRP. On XRPL, transaction fees are systematically burned, applying deflationary pressure to XRP’s permanently capped 100 billion total supply,” the Messari report noted.
Since the XRP Ledger’s inception, about 14.3 million XRP—or $19.2 million at the close of the first quarter of 2026—had been burned. Messari attributed this relatively low burn rate to the protocol’s low transaction fees.
XRP found a bright spot in other metrics, however, particularly with inflows into spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Launched in the final quarter of 2025, XRP ETFs reached the $1 billion assets under management (AUM) milestone in just four weeks.
“U.S. spot XRP ETFs closed Q1 2026 holding 775.4 million XRP (1.26% of the circulating supply), up 1.9% QoQ, with XRP held peaking at 810.2 million XRP on March 3, 2026,” the report states.
Canary Capital’s XRPC led U.S. spot ETFs, ending the quarter with 197.1 million XRP. Bitwise’s XRP followed closely at 194.9 million, while Franklin Templeton’s XRPZ held 159.7 million and 21Shares’ TOXR held 105.8 million. Beyond ETFs, institutional investors snapped up the asset by adopting the digital asset treasury (DAT) strategy popularized by Strategy. Among them, corporate holder Evernorth held 388 million XRP tokens purchased at an average price of $2.44, making it the largest institutional holder.
Meanwhile, Ripple’s USD-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, closed the first quarter of 2026 with a market cap of $340.3 million on the XRPL, a 45% jump QoQ that made it the network’s largest stablecoin. Additionally, the XRPL closed the quarter with an all-time high real-world asset ( RWA) market cap of $2.25 billion, making it the seventh-largest network by RWA market cap.
