Spot XRP ETFs kept pulling in fresh capital through December, extending a 29-day inflow streak and adding $478 million for the month, which lifted total net assets to roughly $1.24 billion. This kind of consistency matters because it signals institutions are still allocating even when broader crypto ETP sentiment is cooling.
The late-month flow tape stayed constructive: XRP ETFs took in $8.44 million on December 29 and $64 million during the week of December 22–26, bringing cumulative inflows since launch to about $1.15 billion. Those daily and weekly prints reinforce that the bid wasn’t a one-off spike, but a sustained allocation pattern.
Rotation context: XRP in, BTC and ETH out
The contrast versus the largest products is hard to ignore. Spot Bitcoin ETFs logged a $1.1 billion net outflow in December, including $78.2 million out during the week of December 22–26 and $19.3 million leaving on December 29. In practical terms, December looked like de-risking in BTC ETF wrappers while XRP continued to attract incremental exposure.
Spot Ethereum ETFs also bled capital, posting a $612 million net outflow for December, with $10.2 million out in the week and $9.6 million out on December 29. With both BTC and ETH products seeing redemptions, XRP’s inflow profile reads less like “crypto beta” and more like a targeted reallocation decision.
Solana was mixed in this same window: spot Solana ETFs recorded a $13.14 million weekly outflow, yet still managed a $2.93 million inflow on December 29. That push-pull supports the idea that institutions weren’t exiting the category entirely, but rotating exposure within it.
What’s driving the stickier XRP demand
A key explanation highlighted in market discussion is regulatory clarity paired with a cross-border settlement narrative, which can make XRP feel “different” in an ETF portfolio construction conversation. Vincent Liu, CIO at Kronos Research, framed this as differentiated exposure, noting XRP’s settlement utility can attract longer-horizon capital. The takeaway is that some allocators appear to be treating XRP ETF exposure as a strategic sleeve rather than a short-term trade.
For product and compliance teams, clearer footing has very tangible benefits: it can reduce onboarding friction, shorten due-diligence cycles, and simplify documentation. When regulatory uncertainty drops, operational throughput typically improves across approvals, controls, and portfolio implementation.
A steadier ETF inflow profile can also reduce churn, which is helpful for liquidity provisioning, reconciliation, and predictable creation/redemption activity. Lower flow volatility is operationally valuable because it improves planning around settlement timing and liquidity management.
The gap noted between ETF inflows and softer spot price action implies different incentive stacks across user types: institutions buying ETF exposure prioritize custody compatibility, allocation mechanics, and compliance transparency over on-chain workflows. That’s a product signal to optimize permissioning, clarify fee and settlement windows, and make NAV and redemption cycles easier to understand at the point of execution.