Retail Investors Exit XRP as Ripple Onboards 90 Institutions, Sparking Ecosystem Boom

▲ Ripple (XRP)

XRP (Ripple), which has plunged more than 60% from its peak and remains trapped in a prolonged bear market, is seeking a turnaround through major internal innovation by expanding its decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem despite ongoing price weakness.

According to investment media outlet FXStreet on February 24 (local time), XRP has fallen about 63% from its all-time high of $3.66 last July and is currently trading around $1.35, weighed down by macroeconomic headwinds and regulatory uncertainty surrounding the U.S. crypto market structure bill, the CLARITY Act. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has also shrunk from $4.4 trillion to $2.28 trillion. Meanwhile, open interest in the futures market has plunged from $10.94 billion last July to $2.29 billion as of Tuesday, reflecting deeply frozen investor sentiment.

In contrast to this dismal price performance, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) ecosystem is undergoing remarkable structural evolution. Officially launched on June 30, 2025, the XRPL Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain serves as a Layer 2 network for the mainnet and is expanding the ecosystem with participation from more than 90 institutions. Additionally, the liquid staking token mXRP, introduced by Midas and Interop Labs, enables XRP holders to generate yield across more than 80 blockchains via the Axelar network. Offering up to a 10% annual percentage yield at launch, mXRP has attracted significant attention.

The automated market maker (AMM) infrastructure is also experiencing explosive growth, supporting approximately 27,000 active liquidity pools and 16,000 unique tokens while securing liquidity depth exceeding 11.5 million XRP. Furthermore, RLUSD, launched in December 2024, complies with New York Department of Financial Services regulations and has grown to a market capitalization of $1.5 billion, serving as a powerful gateway for bringing traditional financial capital on-chain.

However, technical indicators do not yet signal an immediate dramatic rebound. XRP remains in a firm downtrend, trading below the densely clustered 50-week, 100-week, and 200-week exponential moving averages between $1.40 and $2.08. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) remains below the signal line, confirming bearish momentum, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovers around 32, indicating persistent downward pressure. If the immediate support level at $1.33 breaks, there is a risk of further declines toward $1.20 and $1.05.

Experts note that while XRP is strengthening its fundamentals through its transition into the DeFi ecosystem, an unstable macroeconomic environment continues to weigh on its performance. For a meaningful mid- to long-term recovery trend to take hold, they advise that XRP must close a weekly candle above the $1.90 resistance level to confirm a reversal toward the $2.05 to $2.30 range.

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