Here's an interesting puzzle: XRP (XRP) exchange-traded funds just crossed $1 billion in total inflows, but the token itself is down over 13% since those ETFs started trading on November 13. What gives?
The Numbers Tell Two Different Stories
On Monday alone, the XRP ETFs pulled in $10.89 million in net inflows. Products from Canary, Grayscale, and Franklin Templeton led the charge, pushing cumulative flows past the billion-dollar mark. That's real money moving into regulated crypto products.
Meanwhile, Coinglass data shows more than $1.12 billion in net XRP outflows from spot exchanges since November. That's a much bigger number heading in the opposite direction.
Vincent Liu, Chief Investment Officer at Kronos Research, thinks the ETF milestone signals growing institutional demand for regulated crypto exposure beyond Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). He pointed out that consistent inflows suggest investors are positioning themselves around assets with clearer regulatory standing, even as broader economic conditions remain uncertain.
This Isn't a Selloff—It's a Channel Shift
The gap between ETF inflows and spot exchange outflows doesn't mean people are dumping XRP. It means money is moving through different pipes.
Retail traders and long-term holders are pulling tokens off exchanges—probably into self-custody wallets. At the same time, institutional players are bypassing spot markets entirely and going straight to ETFs for their exposure.
Sound familiar? It should. We saw the exact same pattern with Bitcoin after its ETF launch. Price behavior became less reactive to exchange flows as big investors shifted to regulated products. Fewer tokens sitting on exchanges means tighter liquidity, which tends to produce slower, more controlled price movements instead of the wild swings crypto is known for.
What Traders Are Watching Now
From a technical standpoint, XRP is still stuck below a descending trendline that's been rejecting every bounce attempt. Sellers remain in control for now.
Price action continues below key resistance and the Supertrend indicator, keeping downward pressure in place. The immediate support zone sits between $1.85 and $1.80—a level that's held multiple times but is getting tested repeatedly. If that breaks cleanly, the next support level down is near $1.65.
For the bulls to take back control, XRP needs to break above $2.20 and actually hold it. Until that happens, any upward moves are likely to be short-term corrections rather than the start of a sustained rally.
The broader takeaway? ETF inflows and spot price don't always move in lockstep, especially when the structure of the market itself is changing. XRP might be down since launch, but the billion-dollar ETF milestone suggests institutional interest is very much alive—it's just showing up in different places.