In brief
- The XRP Ledger is experiencing a shift away from retail activity, according to a Serotonin analyst.
- The network is now more akin to a "interbank settlement network" and is losing steam with retail users.
- The shift comes amid XRP's surge to a new all-time high price last week.
Ripple-linked asset XRP surged to a new all-time high price last week, despite a trend that points to a notable shift away from retail activity on the XRP Ledger blockchain.
Data gathered since the turn of the year suggests a “wholesale migration” according to analysts at Serotonin, who highlighted a sharp fall in daily active accounts alongside increased volumes and fee loads per user.
“Daily user counts have fallen sharply, while per‑user metrics such as volume, fee load and liquidity provision have climbed, suggesting that casual participants are leaving but the capital that remains is being deployed more intensively,” wrote Serotonin Senior Growth Analytics Manager, Paige Horinek.
Serotonin’s XRPL data showcases around a 50% decrease in daily active users on the XRP Ledger since the turn of the year, down from approximately 39,500 on January 1 to around 19,500 on June 29.
Furthermore, activity on the platform is nearly all payments-related, with up to 99.7% of on-ledger volumes falling into that category. Decentralized exchange trades and swaps, signs of speculative trading activity that could be linked to retail users, never exceeded 1%.
That data, coupled with transfer size increases and growing total-value-locked per users of automated market makers (AMM), points to XRP’s gentrification “into wholesale settlement rails,” according to Serotonin.
XRP’s place in the crypto world has always been connected to a strong retail presence, or an “army” of die-hard supporters that have carried the torch through a multi-year legal battle with the SEC—which is still ongoing, despite repeated attempts at a settlement.
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But while there are self-described XRP Army members, the coin also has less-hardened supporters. On Wednesday, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse warned holders of XRP about avoiding a surge in YouTube scams, following the token’s surge to the third-largest by market capitalization according to CoinGecko.
The retail narrative that surrounds the token may be in narrative alone soon as the network underpinning XRP matures.
“The evolving XRPL landscape shows clear signs of wholesale migration: As regulatory backdrops evolve, casual on-chain users are leaving, but survivors are moving larger volumes, committing more liquidity per capita, and building more infrastructure,” wrote Horinek.
Why XRP Army Members Are 'Fucking Furious' About the All-Time High
The XRP Army is a passionate bunch. After the Ripple-linked cryptocurrency set a new all-time high price last Thursday—the first time it had done so in over seven years, according to CoinGecko—some staunch XRP supporters told Decrypt they weren’t happy, but angry instead. The irritation comes as a result of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s long-running legal battle, which some XRP Army members believe stunted the cryptocurrency's growth. “We are fucking furious about waiting SEVEN F...
“For retail traders, the playground is shrinking; for institutions, XRP increasingly resembles an interbank settlement network. Whether this wholesale pivot ultimately adds or destroys value remains an open question—but it’s a different network than it was a year ago.”
XRP is up around 3% on Thursday to $3.19, down about 12% since it set an all-time high of $3.65 last week.
In a comment to Decrypt, Horinek discussed the potential outcomes of the network's shifting dynamics.
"With fewer actors moving larger sums, price can become more susceptible to individual flows, which may increase short‑term volatility," she said. "Over a longer horizon, if the ledger becomes dominated by high‑value settlement use, price drivers might shift toward metrics like total value settled, liquidity locked, and cross‑chain activity rather than retail sentiment or speculative trading."
"Whether that leads to higher or lower prices is uncertain; much depends on how much institutional demand materializes and whether retail interest ever rebounds," Horinek added.
Editor's note: This story was updated after publication to include comment from Horinek.
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