XRP Ledger Activity Hits New Highs While Validators Weight Institutional Lending Vote

On-chain metrics show adoption accelerating with daily active addresses up 72%, yet XRP price hovers near 52-week lows as market awaits key ledger amendments and regulatory clarity.

The XRP ecosystem is flashing contradictory signals. On-chain metrics point to accelerating network adoption, yet the token price remains pinned near its lowest levels in a year, trading at $1.09 – just a few cents above the 52-week trough of $1.01 and down roughly 42% from the start of 2025. The divergence suggests the market is waiting for a verdict that could redefine XRP's role in institutional finance.

At the center of that wait are two proposed ledger amendments – XLS-65 for single-asset vaults and XLS-66 for a native lending protocol. Both require sustained support from at least 80% of trusted validators over two weeks before activation on mainnet. As of 3 July, XLS-65 commanded 22.86% of votes, XLS-66 roughly 20% – still well short of the threshold. The framework is designed for regulated institutions, incorporating off-chain underwriting, first-loss capital buffers and fixed-term loan structures that mirror traditional banking risk models. Ripple has also completed a large-scale security audit program for the code, dangling a six-figure bug bounty that drew thousands of independent researchers.

While the validator countdown inches forward, the network itself is quietly expanding its base of users. Active daily addresses surged 72% in late June to around 39,500, and new wallet creation hit a three-month high of 4,941 on 2 July. That pickup follows a wave of deleveraging in the futures market, suggesting retail traders are stepping back even as on-chain activity recovers.

A key catalyst for the uptick in usage is the Ripple-backed stablecoin RLUSD. On-chain data confirms that between 51% and 52% of its global supply now sits on the XRP Ledger, translating into a balance exceeding $800 million. Total stablecoin market capitalisation on the ledger has climbed to roughly $907 million, edging toward the $1 billion mark. The stablecoin's presence is widening the network's appeal for payments and DeFi, with technical proposals such as the "AMM Swappable Curves" standard aiming to improve capital efficiency by allowing liquidity pools to adopt multiple pricing curves instead of the current constant-product model.

Beyond the lending vote, the protocol's development pipeline remains active. The so-called Batch Amendment, which enables atomic multi-operation transactions in a single ledger entry, has returned to the core repository after passing a security audit and now awaits validator approval. Meanwhile, regulatory clarity remains a moving target. Galaxy Digital recently lowered its probability for the CLARITY Act passing this year from 75% to 60%, citing delays in the Senate Banking Committee ahead of the August recess. The US Senate returns from summer break on 13 July, leaving a narrow window for progress.

Institutional interest, however, has not evaporated. XRP spot ETFs have accumulated net inflows of about $1.48 billion since November 2025, and total assets under management across the seven funds stand at roughly $1.4 billion, with over 800 million tokens held in those vehicles. A small net outflow appeared on 30 June for the first time in weeks, but the broader trend remains intact.

Technically, the token is struggling to escape bearish territory. The relative strength index sits at 43.4, indicating neither oversold nor overbought conditions, while the price trades roughly 27% below the 200-day moving average of $1.49. The coming two weeks will be decisive: if validator support for the lending amendments accelerates toward the 80% line, the network's institutional blueprint gains concrete substance. If it stalls, the gap between on-chain growth and token price is likely to persist.