Messari’s State of XRP Q1 2026 report shows a sharp split in performance across the XRP ecosystem. XRP fell 27.1% in the first quarter of 2026, but activity on the XRP Ledger moved the other way. Over the same period, average daily transactions on XRPL rose 35.3%, increasing from 1.83 million to 2.48 million. Price weakness and stronger network usage unfolded at the same time.
XRP price, market cap, and trading volumes declined
Messari said XRP ended the quarter as the fourth-largest non-stablecoin crypto asset by market capitalization, behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB. Even with that ranking, the token tracked the broader market lower during Q1. XRP’s market cap dropped 26.3% quarter over quarter to $82.21 billion, while its price fell to $1.34. Circulating supply edged up 1.1% to 61.34 billion XRP.
Trading activity also cooled. Average daily spot volume declined 32% during the quarter, and perpetual futures volume fell 28.6%. By the end of Q1, U.S. spot XRP ETFs held 775.4 million XRP, equal to 1.26% of circulating supply. That figure was 1.9% higher than the previous quarter.
Network usage expanded even as the token weakened
The report links transaction growth to XRPL’s broader feature set. Messari said the network continues to support payments, token issuance, decentralized liquidity, real-world assets, and stablecoins. Usage did not stall. It accelerated.
Messari also noted that XRP remains connected to network activity through transaction fees, account reserves, liquidity, asset ownership, and currency bridging. That matters for reading the quarter’s data: token price and exchange activity were lower, but on-chain interaction across the ledger increased.
RLUSD became the largest stablecoin on XRPL
Ripple’s RLUSD posted one of the quarter’s clearest gains. According to Messari, RLUSD ended Q1 with a $340.3 million market cap on XRPL, up 44.9% from the previous quarter. That made it the largest stablecoin on the network by quarter-end.
The report added that RLUSD had more holders on XRPL than on Ethereum by the end of the quarter, although Ethereum still processed larger transfer volume. The holder count points to wider distribution on XRPL, while transfer activity remained heavier on Ethereum.
RWA growth and new institutional tools added momentum
Tokenized real-world assets expanded even faster. Messari said XRPL’s RWA market cap jumped 124.1% quarter over quarter to $2.25 billion, setting a new quarterly high. Based on that growth, the network ranked seventh among public blockchains by RWA market cap at the end of Q1 and fourth by the time the report was published.
Institutional finance features also advanced during the quarter. Permissioned Domains, Permissioned DEX, and Token Escrow went live on XRPL, while native lending and asset vault features remained in voting. If approved, those additions would support lending, borrowing, and more structured use of XRP and other assets on the network.
Messari said the report was commissioned by Ripple, while editorial control remained with Messari. The quarter’s data still shows a clear divide: XRP price and trading volumes moved lower, while XRPL transactions, RLUSD adoption, and tokenized asset activity moved higher.