XRP ‘super fans’ keep ETFs alive despite nearly 50% price dump

XRP spot exchange-traded funds have been defying conventional wisdom about how new investment products usually behave during market crashes.

These ETFs have accumulated over $1.4 billion since launching in November — maintaining their assets under management despite XRP’s precipitous drop to $1.40 on Tuesday from around $3 just before the ETFs went live.

“Like Solana, this is really impressive given these launched into a brutal 45% drawdown,” Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote on X.

“Traditionally, inflows are near impossible for an ETF having a reverse shiny object moment, and especially if they are brand new.”

That resilience highlights something that is mostly contained to crypto markets: community conviction can override the normal rules of investor behaviour.

New ETF launches typically depend on momentum — what Balchunas calls the “shiny object” effect that attracts initial flows. When that momentum reverses and prices fall, especially for brand-new products, inflows typically disappear, Balchunas argued.

Not XRP, however. The cryptocurrency has a faithful fanbase that is willing to buy the dip, no matter what.

Superfans

Above all, Balchunas attributed the resilience of XRP ETF inflows to the token’s loyal band of buyers.

“My guess is this [degree of inflows] is largely XRP superfans versus casual retail,” he said.

And he’s not the only one who thinks so. Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan previously told DL News that most people underestimate XRP because the median opinion is pretty bearish on the token.

But at the end of the day, what drives flows?

“A group of people that buys the asset — and the XRP Army is incredibly bullish and loves XRP,” he said.

Indeed, XRP has one of crypto’s most devoted followings. It has stuck by the token through years of regulatory uncertainty, exchange delistings, prolonged bear markets, and the derision of the broader crypto ecosystem.

Today, that conviction is paying off.

Solana is mirroring XRP’s relentless inflows despite a plummeting price. Solana ETFs have accumulated more than $1.45 billion despite a 57% price collapse since launching in July 2025.

But the source of their success is different from that of the XRP ETFs. Experts reckon most of Solana’s inflows are coming from a “serious investor base.”

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him atpsolimano@dlnews.com.