A recent interesting phenomenon has attracted attention—while the crypto market experienced significant volatility in December, the US XRP ETF continued to attract capital against the trend.

The data is clear: the total inflow over the past 30 days has exceeded $1.17 billion. Even more eye-catching is that during the same period, the holdings of XRP ETFs increased by nearly 40%. This is quite unusual in an environment typically considered bearish.

What does this indicate? Simply put, a group of institutional-level funds are operating in a contrarian manner—buying more when the market declines. Historically, such behavior often suggests two possibilities: one, the true value of an asset is being seriously underestimated by the market; two, market participants are positioning themselves in advance for an upcoming predictable event.

In the case of XRP, there are two noteworthy clues. First, Ripple’s cross-border transaction volume recently surpassed 1 billion transactions, reflecting the expanding application of its payment network in real-world commercial scenarios. Institutional funds may be betting on the long-term prospects of this practical route. Second, on the legal front, the lawsuit between Ripple and the SEC is gradually progressing, with positive signals emerging. The fact that funds are preemptively positioning themselves in anticipation of a definitive outcome cannot be ignored.

That said, a word of caution. Inflows into ETFs do not guarantee that prices will necessarily rise. The volatility of crypto assets is inherently high, and regulatory uncertainties hang like a sword overhead. Moreover, one should be wary of the logic of institutional players—they tend to be more decisive than retail investors when shifting positions, and their withdrawals can be even more aggressive.

So, the question is: what do you think about this wave of institutional activity? Are they genuinely optimistic about XRP’s long-term value, or are there other strategic considerations at play?