XRPL Activity Rises as XRP Price Falls 27%

Messari’s State of XRP Q1 2026 report shows daily transactions on the XRP Ledger increased 35.3% quarter-over-quarter to 2.48 million in Q1. Tokenized real-world assets on the ledger rose 124.1% to $2.25 billion during the same period.

Stablecoin activity on the ledger also expanded. Ripple’s RLUSD supply on XRPL grew 45% to $340.3 million by quarter-end, making it the largest stablecoin on the network in Q1.

Institutional activity included a live cross-border redemption of tokenized U.S. Treasuries in May involving JPMorgan, Mastercard, Ripple and Ondo Finance. Messari’s data shows the asset leg of that transaction settled on XRPL in about 4.2 seconds.

Market metrics for XRP moved in the opposite direction. Market capitalization fell 26.3% to $82.21 billion in Q1 and the token’s average price dropped 27.1% to about $1.34, before weakening further toward the $1.28 area in May.

Trading activity cooled as well. Average daily spot volume declined 32% in Q1 and perpetual futures volume fell 28.6%, according to the report. United States spot XRP ETFs held roughly 775.4 million XRP at the end of Q1, about 1.26% of circulating supply, and reported net inflows of $131 million in May.

Technical indicators show XRP has traded inside a symmetrical triangle since early February, a pattern that formed after a 53.84% drop from January highs. The lower trendline sits near $1.26; a two-day close below that level would be interpreted as a triangle breakdown. Historical performance for June has been weak, with a median monthly return of -8.49% and only three positive Junes since 2014.

Leverage data on perpetuals indicates cumulative short liquidation exposure concentrated at about $227.10 million on Binance, representing roughly 90% of recorded leveraged liquidations. That concentration represents a point of potential rapid position adjustment if price moves sharply.

Technical resistance is noted around $1.46, the 50% Fibonacci retracement, with a break above $1.51 viewed as confirming a bullish triangle breakout and opening paths toward $1.58–$1.67.

On-chain usage, stablecoin growth and institutional transactions increased on the XRP Ledger in Q1 even as the token’s price and trading volumes declined. Market participants are monitoring whether the $1.26 demand zone holds or a sustained breakdown pushes prices lower.