- Developers have turned massively bullish on XRP behind the scenes despite recent price drops, one expert has revealed.
- The XRP community is watching the approval of an ETF in Japan, which one expert says would trigger a wave of institutional capital inflow.
XRP has been hit by a bearish wave over the past 10 days, dropping from a monthly high of $1.54 to trade at $1.35 at press time. It has been flipped on the charts by BNB, which is now worth $6 billion more. However, something big is looming, one analyst says, claiming that behind the scenes, developers have not been this bullish on XRP in years.
XRP is recovering from a weekly low of $1.3083, hit on Saturday, gaining 3.2% since despite lower trading volume and a broader bear trend that has chipped $120 billion from the overall market cap.
As one analyst notes, XRP has been trading in a tight range since February, although the volume has been much lower than last year and 2024. The altcoin has been known to trade in tight ranges before a breakout, but these ranges can sometimes last several months.
While XRP may be struggling on the price charts, one insider says developers are backing it more than ever. He stated:
“I can tell you for 100% there is a shift among XRP developers. They’re all flipping major bullish on XRP. This is not a coincidence. They know something. I’m seeing it across multiple developer X handles. It’s not just me. Other XRP influencers are telling me the same behind the scenes.”
Elsewhere, Hugo Phillion, the founder of the largest DeFi protocol on XRPL, Flare Networks, reflected on his journey building the company. He shared that a VC fund that had Ran Neuner and Scott Melker as advisors once told him “that XRP was worth nothing, that building DeFi for XRP was a pointless pursuit, and that Flare would never work.”
The least pleasant call I had in the process of building Flare was with a VC fund where Ran was an advisor.
Ran ranted at me for a good 15-20 minutes that XRP was worth nothing, that building DeFi for XRP was a pointless pursuit and that Flare would never work.Fortunately my…
— Hugo Philion (@HugoPhilion) May 24, 2026
Could an XRP ETF in Japan Be The Ultimate Gamechanger?
XRP has seen ETFs launch in the US and some other markets, and they have been doing quite well despite a generally bearish crypto ETF market. However, according to one renowned community member, launching an XRP ETF in Japan could be the ultimate tailwind for the altcoin.
🚨 KNOW: Why Japan's First $XRP ETF Approval Will Quietly Trigger A Wave Of Institutional Capital Into XRP.
Japan is the 4th largest economy in the world with $4.4 trillion in GDP. It is also one of the most tightly regulated and conservative financial markets on Earth.
When… https://t.co/GuAevVqjvJ pic.twitter.com/VuzMQCzqD7
— RippleXity (@RippleXity) May 24, 2026
First, a Japanese approval would open up a vast Asian market as most countries follow its lead. In Asia, only China has a bigger economy.
XRP would also be an instant hit as it’s the third-most popular crypto in the market after Bitcoin and Ethereum. SBI, one of Ripple’s main partners for years, has been pushing the coin’s adoption aggressively, and with an ETF, it would expand its marketing to target institutions.
One sector that could record significant growth is the tokenization of real-world assets. Japan has been one of the leaders globally, with RWAs projected to surge from $2.8 billion to $7 billion this year.
XRP’s RWA ecosystem has been growing rapidly in recent months. As we reported last week, RWAs on the XRPL hit $4 billion, overtaking Solana and BNB Chain to land in the top five chains.
