XRP Ledger upgrade could drive institutional demand, but limited effect on XRP supply expected

XRP Ledger upgrade could drive institutional demand, but limited effect on XRP supply expected

KARACHI, August 1, 2026, 18:08 PKT — Crypto markets have opened.

  • XRP was last at $1.059, slipping 0.67% in the past 24 hours.
  • Jazzi Cooper, head of product at RippleX, stated that xrpld 3.3.0 is expected next week and will include five suggested amendments.
  • Initial projections indicate 10 million sponsored base accounts would set aside $10.59 million in XRP.

XRP’s proposed fee-sponsor update would transfer reserve demand from individual users to institutions, rather than eliminate it. The token was priced at $1.059 on Saturday. Its decline for the day was in line with the broader market.

This difference is significant since a basic account holds 1 XRP in reserve, whereas the lowest-cost transaction consumes only 0.00001 XRP. As a result, a single account holds as much XRP as would be destroyed by 100,000 transactions at the minimum fee.

With Sponsored Fees and Reserves, a bank, issuer or platform could pay both expenses. The user’s account and keys would remain under their control. “Users continue to own their accounts and keys,” Cooper said. CoinDesk

As of the dateline, XRP’s market capitalization stood at $66.48 billion. The cryptocurrency traded largely in line with the overall market on the day.

MeasureXRPGlobal crypto market
Market cap$66.48 billion$2.16 trillion
24-hour movement-0.67%-0.73%
24-hour volume$874.9 million$50.84 billion
StatusOpenOpen

Cooper stated that xrpld 3.3.0 is expected to be released next week. This update contains five suggested amendments. The software release itself will not enable these changes.

Proposed amendmentCore functionInvestor relevanceStatus
Sponsored Fees and ReservesSponsor covers transaction fees and reservesReduces onboarding barriers; XRP shifted to sponsor accountsNew
BatchV1_1Can process up to eight linked transactions at onceFacilitates multi-account settlementsRevised
PermissionDelegationV1_1Allows assignment of limited signature authorityEnables institutional oversight and checksRevised
Confidential MPTKeeps balances and transfer data private during auditsEnhances privacy for tokenised holdingsNew
Dynamic MPTPermits changes to defined token characteristicsLets issuers avoid entire token swapsNew

Activation depends on at least 80% trusted-validator approval sustained over two straight weeks. This benchmark distinguishes when publishing happens from when the protocol code becomes functional. The timeline is still unclear.

The 3.2.0 cleanup amendment illustrates the procedure. It went into effect on July 29 after receiving approval from 30 out of 35 trusted validators. Nodes running version 3.1.0 or below were blocked by the amendment.

The plan shifts reserve responsibilities to the sponsor’s account, while the originating account retains possession of its ledger objects. Sponsors are required to maintain sufficient XRP to cover each account and object included.

This preliminary model is not a forecast. It is based solely on the present 1 XRP base reserve. It does not take into account owner reserves or potential future fee votes.

Sponsored base accountsAggregate XRP reservedValue at $1.059Share of circulating supply
1 million1 million XRP$1.06 million0.0016%
10 million10 million XRP$10.59 million0.0160%
100 million100 million XRP$105.90 million0.1599%

A total of 100 million sponsored accounts would lock just 0.16% of the circulating supply. Reserved XRP is released when accounts are closed, in contrast to burned fees that permanently reduce supply. Ongoing account creation is needed to maintain scarcity.

The minimum-fee burn remains relatively low. Real transaction fees may increase if the network experiences higher usage or if a transaction is more complex.

TransactionsXRP destroyed at reference feeValue at $1.059Share of circulating supply
100 million1,000 XRP$1,0590.0000016%
1 billion10,000 XRP$10,5900.0000160%
10 billion100,000 XRP$105,9000.0001599%

Conducting ten billion transfers at the minimum fee would consume as much XRP as required by the reserve for 100,000 accounts. The primary investment issue is usage; sponsors need to bring in a significant number of accounts, assets, and liquidity.

Security concerns stay prominent. The initial Batch vulnerability might have allowed unauthorized transactions on behalf of users, even without access to their private keys. Permission Delegation had the potential to impose fees on unrelated users’ accounts. Both features were never enabled on the mainnet.

Distribution across Asia expanded further. OSL Group (HKG:0863) announced its Hong Kong branch launched retail trading for XRP on July 29. Upbit began offering RLUSD markets on July 28, restricting deposits to the XRP Ledger.

These channels have distinct impacts. OSL has the potential to expand direct ownership of XRP. RLUSD may drive more ledger activity without requiring end users to hold XRP, should sponsorship be enabled.

In the coming week, investors are advised to monitor validator support, numbers of sponsored accounts, and balances of tokenised assets. Validator support measures the likelihood of activation, while the other metrics indicate if reduced friction sustains long-term demand.

Risks: Validators might postpone or refuse the amendments. Changes to the code could reveal further flaws. Sponsors might contribute funds to accounts without boosting long-term demand for XRP. Widespread cryptocurrency sell-offs present an additional risk.

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Further analysis

What is the current level of demand for XRP’s valuation and its price perspective?
XRP Ledger operates as a public blockchain and is neither a stock nor an operating company. XRP is priced around $1.06, with a circulating market capitalization of $66.5 billion. The fully diluted valuation totals $106.3 billion, based on a maximum supply of 100 billion tokens. According to CoinGecko, XRP’s all-time high was $3.65, which would be a gain of approximately 245% from current prices. With the current circulating supply, reaching that price would result in a market capitalization of around $228 billion. There is no established Wall Street consensus price target for XRP.
Are ETF inflows significant enough to alter the outlook?
U.S. spot XRP ETFs recorded $7.69 million in inflows on July 31. The total net inflows have now reached $1.509 billion, with net assets at approximately $989 million. Inflows represent roughly 2.3% of XRP’s present market capitalization. ETF availability widens demand, though overall flows stay limited. The impact is significant, but not leading.
Does the extent of network expansion justify the current valuation?
In the most recent quarter, daily transactions climbed 35.3% to 2.48 million. The average number of active addresses edged up 1.7% to reach 49,800. New addresses dropped 29.8% to 29,400. Daily XRP spot volume at centralized exchanges averaged $2.68 billion, while on-chain platforms saw just $11.7 million per day. While usage picked up, both the breadth of adoption and on-chain liquidity continued to show inconsistency.
What quantifiable catalysts are most significant at present?
RLUSD in circulation climbed to $1.586 billion as of July 30, with reserves at $1.697 billion. XRPL tracked $2.25 billion in real-world assets at the end of March, reflecting growth of 124.1%. Of this, distributed and transferable assets made up $451.1 million. Native lending has not been enabled; XRPScan shows 12 current votes. Despite observable growth, it is still unclear how much this will translate into immediate demand for XRP.
Which risks persist following the conclusion of the SEC case?
In August 2025, both the SEC and Ripple withdrew their appeals. Ripple continues to face a $125.035 million penalty and a Securities Act injunction. According to XRPScan, 32.45 billion XRP are held in escrow, equal to 32.4% of the maximum supply. Circulating supply figures vary among data trackers: CoinGecko shows 62.53 billion, whereas XRPScan records 67.53 billion. Although legal risk has decreased, significant supply overhang persists.
Iwona Majkowska

Iwona Majkowska is a financial markets journalist at TS2.tech. She covers stocks, artificial intelligence and technology, with a focus on the stories moving U.S. and global markets. Before turning to financial journalism, she worked in equity research and financial analysis. She is a graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics. Follow Iwona Majkowska on Google News.

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