XRP surges 8% in a single day! Are these two major ETF giants the driving force behind it?

Grayscale and Franklin Templeton, two major asset management firms, have almost simultaneously submitted amended filings for an XRP spot ETF, paving the way for eventual listing.

A more important signal comes from the regulatory side. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced that already-listed spot crypto products will be allowed to trade on CFTC-registered futures exchanges. This is seen as a key step by the Trump administration in embracing the digital asset industry.

01 Market Reaction

According to Gate data as of December 5, 2025, the latest price of XRP is $2.1, with a 24-hour trading volume of $95.57M and a market cap holding at a high level of $126.69B.

Although XRP’s price has adjusted by -4.63% over the past 24 hours, this does not overshadow its strong short-term performance fueled by positive news. The market sentiment index shows “positive,” reflecting investor optimism about XRP’s future trend.

Price charts indicate that XRP has seen a -4.59% adjustment in the past week, but this may be laying the groundwork for a new round of gains. Technical analysis points out that if the price can firmly close above the 50-day exponential moving average of $2.32, momentum will tilt toward the bulls.

02 Core Catalysts

The core driving force behind the recent XRP price movement points to the accelerated entry of traditional financial institutions. This is not an isolated event but a clear sign of the broader trend of institutional dominance in the crypto market.

Franklin Templeton and Grayscale’s consecutive moves in November are seen by the market as strong signals of a regulatory approval sprint. The former manages over $1.5 trillion in assets, and its official entry signals that a Wall Street heavyweight is now in place.

The most critical change lies in the regulatory environment thawing. Acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham has made it clear that spot crypto products will be able to trade on regulated exchanges with “gold standard” client protection and market integrity.

This statement paves the way for institutional capital to allocate large-scale funds into crypto assets like XRP through compliant channels. Analysis points out that once an XRP ETF is approved, U.S. pension funds, insurance funds, and other long-term capital will gain direct investment channels, ending the previous “frozen period.”

03 Institutional Narrative Deepens

XRP’s rise is not an isolated case—it reflects the profound structural transformation of the cryptocurrency market. The current cycle is defined as “Bitcoin-led, spot-driven, institution-anchored.”

Bitcoin’s market dominance is now close to 60%, and since the approval of U.S. spot ETFs, its long-term volatility has dropped from 84.4% to 43.0%, with significant improvements in market depth and institutional participation.

Meanwhile, changes in the number of active entities reveal a shift in capital flows. Glassnode data shows that after the approval of U.S. spot ETFs, the number of daily active entities on the Bitcoin network fell from about 240,000 to 170,000.

This is not a contraction in network activity, but a migration in activity location—a large amount of trading has shifted from on-chain to brokers and ETF platforms. This migration is the most direct evidence of institutionalization.

04 Competitive Landscape and Fee Strategies

In advancing the XRP ETF, the two giants have demonstrated different market strategies that are likely to influence the future market structure.

Grayscale has adopted an aggressive zero-fee strategy: no management fees for the first three months or until assets under management reach $10 billion. This move is widely interpreted by the market as a clear signal to quickly seize market share through “burning money.”

In contrast, Franklin Templeton has set an annual fee rate of 0.2%, but also promises no fees until assets reach $50 billion or until May 2026. This differentiated competition provides investors with more choices.

Notably, Grayscale has also launched the first U.S. Dogecoin spot ETF at the same time. This not only enriches the product line, but is also seen as an important attempt to pave a compliant path for meme coins and other alternative crypto assets.

05 Technical Support and On-Chain Fundamentals

Aside from market sentiment, XRP’s price performance is still supported by underlying technical logic. The XRP Ledger, an open-source public chain specifically designed for payments, maintains characteristics of speed, low cost, and high scalability.

XRP’s transaction confirmation time is only about 3 seconds, with per-transaction costs as low as $0.0002, and it can handle more than 1,500 transactions per second. These features give it a unique competitive edge in cross-border payments and settlement.

On the supply side, XRP’s circulating supply is 60.33 billion tokens, with a maximum supply cap of 100 billion tokens and a current circulation rate above 60%. This relatively transparent inflation model offers predictability for institutional investors.

On-chain settlement scale also confirms its network value. Data shows that over the past 90 days, Bitcoin network settlement value reached about $6.9T, matching or even surpassing quarterly processing volumes of Visa and Mastercard. As a key payment settlement token, XRP also shares in this growth dividend.

06 Outlook and Potential Risks

As institutionalization accelerates, the market has formed new expectations for XRP’s future. According to forecasts from Gate, the average price of XRP in 2025 is expected to be $2.09, with potential volatility ranging between $1.65 and $2.16.

Longer-term prospects are even more optimistic. Forecasts show that by 2030, XRP’s price could reach $5.46, representing about +88.00% upside from current levels. This forecast is based on continued institutional adoption and the ongoing expansion of payment use cases.

Potential approval of an XRP ETF would create a precedent as the “first mainstream altcoin ETF after Bitcoin and Ethereum,” paving the way for similar products for Solana, Cardano, and other major assets, and potentially changing the entire altcoin market’s valuation logic.

Regulatory approval remains the most critical risk factor. Although institutions are ready, the SEC’s focus on custody structures, market surveillance, and compliance frameworks has not changed. The market broadly views the end of November as an important observation point; if there is no official announcement by then, it may indicate lingering regulatory concerns.

Future Outlook

Gate data shows that XRP’s current price is holding firmly above the $2.1 mark, with its circulating market cap exceeding $126 billion, solidly ranking fourth among cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

This transformation, driven jointly by Wall Street giants and regulatory agencies, has only just begun. As the CFTC opens regulated exchange doors to spot crypto products, and institutions like Grayscale and Franklin Templeton rush in, crypto assets represented by XRP are making a critical leap from speculative fringe assets to mainstream financial infrastructure.

The balance of the market has already tipped, and the core narrative of the next bull market is now firmly in the hands of institutions.