XRP slips to No.5 as U.S. spot ETFs reach $1B

XRP fell 27.1% to $1.34 in the first quarter of 2026, ending the period with a circulating supply of 61.34 billion and a market capitalization of $82.21 billion. The decline cost XRP its position as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market value, leaving it ranked fifth.

The token briefly rose above $1.50 in mid-May, but by May 31 it had given back most of those gains, leaving quarter-end market capitalization roughly unchanged from the close of March. Circulating supply rose 1.1% over the quarter.

Network fee activity fell during Q1. The report noted, “Transaction fees (USD) declined 39.3% quarter over quarter from $133,100 to $80,710, while native transaction fees declined 12% QoQ from 57,600 XRP to 50,750 XRP.” Because the ledger burns transaction fees, those declines lowered the amount of XRP removed from circulation; about 14.3 million XRP have been burned since the ledger’s inception, equal to roughly $19.2 million at the close of Q1 2026.

U.S. spot XRP exchange-traded funds, which launched in the fourth quarter of 2025, reached $1 billion in assets under management within four weeks of launch. At the close of Q1, those ETFs held 775.4 million XRP, representing 1.26% of the circulating supply and a 1.9% increase quarter over quarter. ETF holdings peaked at 810.2 million XRP on March 3, 2026.

Canary Capital’s XRPC led ETF holdings with 197.1 million XRP, followed by Bitwise at 194.9 million, Franklin Templeton’s XRPZ at 159.7 million, and 21Shares’ TOXR holding 105.8 million.

Institutional adoption grew through corporate treasury purchases. One corporate holder reported holding 388 million XRP purchased at an average price of $2.44, making it the largest institutional holder reported in the period.

Stablecoin and real-world asset activity on the ledger also expanded. Ripple’s USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD held a market cap of $340.3 million at the end of Q1, a 45% increase quarter over quarter. The ledger’s real-world asset market cap reached $2.25 billion, an all-time high that ranked the network seventh by RWA market capitalization.

Market-wide context showed larger declines across major non-stablecoin assets: the combined market capitalization of bitcoin, ethereum and BNB fell 23.3% quarter over quarter, and XRP’s performance slightly underperformed that combined drop.

The XRP Ledger enforces a permanent supply cap of 100 billion XRP and burns transaction fees as part of its protocol. Lower transaction fees reduce the ongoing burn rate. ETF and institutional holdings represent a growing share of circulating XRP held in managed wallets and corporate treasuries.