XRP has endured a difficult 2026 price-wise, but 21Shares believes the asset now has a considerably stronger fundamental setup than in previous years.
Swiss-based asset manager 21Shares has outlined its investment case for XRP, citing regulatory clarity, institutional access, growing XRPL utility, and a predictable supply.
Nevertheless, it outlined one major risk, which continues to haunt the underlying asset.
Why Bullish on XRP？
Given Ripple‘s years-long battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the favorable outcome in the past year or so, 21Shares’ report identified regulatory clarity as the first pillar. The conclusion in August 2025 removed what the asset manager described as a major compliance obstacle for institutions, and the regulatory environment for the asset improved further in 2026, giving it considerably clearer treatment than it had under the previous SEC tenure.
Perhaps related to regulatory clarity is the second pillar: expanding institutional access. Recall that several spot XRP ETFs hit Wall Street last November and attracted over $1 billion in a month and a half. As recently reported, the cumulative inflows reached a new all-time high above $1.7 billion, even during this difficult year for the asset.
Next, 21Shares outlined the actual network usage, as the report noted that XRP Ledger has processed close to $500 billion in on-chain value during the past 12 months. At the same time, Ripples RLUSD stablecoin expanded from a market cap of $72 million to $1.6 billion in less than two years.
Tokenized assets on XRPL have also grown substantially, recently hitting $4 billion. The network continues to target payments, stablecoins, and real-world assets.
Crypto commentator Vincent Van Code also weighed in on 21Shares‘ report, arguing that Ripple’s broader infrastructure strengthens that proposition. They described it as an “out-of-the-box, turnkey end-to-end solution” for institutions looking to adopt digital assets.
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Lastly, the report mentioned XRPs fixed maximum supply of 100 billion tokens, with no ongoing inflation schedule and a small amount permanently burned through transaction fees.
Major Uncertainty
Despite all the bullish comments explained above, 21Shares highlighted an important weakness in that thesis, as more XRPL usage does not automatically mean more XRP demand. Institutions can use the network while holding XRP only temporarily. In some cases, they might only barely use the token.
The crucial question here is whether expanding payments, stablecoins, and tokenized assets will ultimately translate into sustainable value accrual for XRP.
For investors convinced that global finance will increasingly move on-chain, 21Shares argued that XRP provides one of the more regulated and institutionally connected ways to gain exposure to that trend. However, the investment case still depends on adoption eventually translating into actual demand for the underlying asset, which continues to struggle against the $1.40 resistance as of press time.